


A Tale of Dragons and Witches

by Misano17



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Both Yahaba and Kyoutani are idiots, Dragons, Fluff, From one homie to another: Is it gay to like plants?, Gratuitous amounts of sparring, Hot take: bears are superior to horses, I'm Sorry, Iwaoi is here it’s just not plot relevant yet, I’ll update the tags as I go along, M/M, Matsuhana angst because why wouldn’t I do that, Nobility, Sparring in the woods, Specifically in my chapter titles, The plot will start soon guys I promise, The woods™, Warning: A singular dead bird, Watari is so done with everyone, Witches, Yahaba lives for victory guys, he’s just done, rated mature for language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:26:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28021629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misano17/pseuds/Misano17
Summary: All it took was a few days in the woods together and they were friends for life, well, life is a strong word, and in this case not very accurate. Prince Kentarou and his childhood friends grapple their way through growing up, the pressures of nobility, and preventing a witch conspiracy from possibly destroying everything that they hold dear.Kyouhaba is endgame I swear, it may not look like it later in the plot but it will happen.Updates every 7 to 14 days, I have quite a bit of work this month so the only times I can get a lot of writing done is on the weekends so chapters are gonna take longer. Sorry for the abrupt change in schedule I’ll return to the original once the amount of work I have goes back down. Thank you for your patience.
Relationships: Hanamaki Takahiro/Matsukawa Issei, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Kyoutani Kentarou/Yahaba Shigeru
Comments: 26
Kudos: 32





	1. Wisps in the woods

**Author's Note:**

> Uhhh, I wrote this in a day. I think it kinda sucks but like, that’s just how it is. My friends thought it was good enough to post so we’re doing this now.

It was a lovely fall day in Dravestaria. Three young boys were roaming through the willow forests looking for a place to play. 

The first boy, Kyoutani Kentarou, prince of Dravestaria and heir apparent, was running through the woods like a wild dog, disregarding all of his manner and etiquette lessons in the process. This was his free day and he was intent on spotting a forest wisp. His destination was set in his mind. A special clearing which only appears on the maps of the royal library. Obviously a great place to find wisps.

A little under a kilometer away from Kentarou two boys were making their way towards the same clearing. Though they were without a map. The first boy Yahaba Shigeru was the only son of the Yahaba family. A large noble house second in power only to the royal family itself. The boy accompanying him was Shinji Watari. Shigeru’s best friend and retainer. 

“Shigeru, stop you’re going to get yourself hurt.” Watari grabbed the back of Shigeru’s finely tailored purple coat and pulled him off the edge of the small hill he was trying to climb.

“But it’s going to take longer to get there if we don’t go over this hill.” Watari sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, with the neck of Shigeru’s coat still occupying his other hand.

“We can find another way around. I don’t know where we’re going anyways so you’ll have to find another route.” Shigeru looked up in frustration before grabbing Watari’s hand and bolting in another direction.

Shigeru ducked behind a fallen tree, pulling Watari along with him. 

“What are you doing?” Shigeru looked at Watari like he was stupid and then gestured for him to be quiet with silent shushing.

Shigeru turned around and got onto his knees peering over the toppled tree. 

“Watari there’s someone coming. I don’t recognize them.” Watari shifted into the same position as Shigeru to watch whoever was approaching.

A young boy with sharp eyes and a menacing aura was bounding towards their hiding place at almost blinding speeds. Watari grabbed Shigeru to duck as the young boy leaped over the fallen tree. 

As he was leaping Kentarou looked behind him for a split second and locked eyes with Shigeru. For what felt like a long time, almost as if time had slowed to a halt. Until Kentarou hit the ground and landed wrong. He proceeded to fall face first into the leaf covered forest floor. 

“Ow, shit!” Shigeru rushed over to the fallen boy and started to help him up. 

“I’m so sorry, are you ok?” Kentarou looked at the other boy in the eyes for a moment and then realized something, this boy didn’t know his title. He could finally have a friend without all the nobility nonsense.

“Yeah I’m fine, what’s your name?” Shigeru then came to a similar realization as the one that Kentarou had and introduced himself accordingly.

“My name is Shigeru, I’m seven. What’s your name?” 

“Kentarou, I’m also seven.” Shigeru motioned for Watari to come over and introduce himself.

“I’m Watari, I’m seven.” 

“So what are you out in the woods for Kentarou? Are you looking for wisps too?” When Kentarou nodded, Shigeru's eyes lit up. Watari sighed.

“I have a map to this clearing where you're supposed to be able to see a lot of them.” 

“Amazing, lead the way then.” Shigeru motioned for Watari to follow them.

The group of boys began their trek through the forest. With the dead leaves crunching under their feet and the vines of the willows swaying in the breeze. While the sun couldn’t pierce the foliage directly it still shone in little patches and in green hues through the canopy of the trees.

As they got closer to the clearing more brightly colored flowers were in bloom despite the early fall chill. There were many bright most likely poisonous mushrooms dotting the ground almost like a trail leading to the clearing. 

The closer they got to the clearing the more intense the canopy of trees above them grew. At first only blocking a small amount of light and currently blocking most of the light. Many different species of glowing mushrooms, flowers, and moses grew on the old stumps and trunks. 

The ground was littered with small glowing stones, too tiny for anyone to pick up. The illuminated ground cast an array of colorful light at the boy's feet.

The clearing itself was bright, filled with natural light. It was small and circular with flat grassy ground. The sun could easily reach the forest floor and yet only short silky grass was growing. 

Shigeru ran to the center and began to roll around on the soft grass. Kentarou joined him as seven year olds do. While Watari sat on a stump and sighed to himself about having to wash Shigeru’s jacket later.

“Hey Kentarou, do you want to play princess, witch, and dragon?” Kentarou pondered over it for a moment before speaking again.

“Sure, I’m gonna be the dragon that rescues the princess tho. You can be the princess cause of your fancy dress.” At the remark about his coat Shigeru became a little annoyed.

“I’ll have you know that this is a coat, and I don’t want to be the princess. I’ll be the witch.” Kentarou looked at him again.

“I think you should be the princess.” Shigeru went from annoyed to angry. Both Shigeru and Kentarou started yelling at each other in increasing volume.

“I’m gonna be the witch.” 

“Princess.”

“Witch!”

“Princess!” 

“Both of you shut up please, I’ll be the princess.” Watari got up from his stump and started picking some of the flowers at the edge of the clearing. 

“What are you doing?” Kentarou looked at Watari curiously.

“Watari is really good at making flower crowns, and it’s fitting that a princess would wear one. Actually can you make me one as well Watari?” Kentarou looked at Shigeru for a moment and then spoke.

“Can I have one?” Watari looked at both of the boys and sighed.

“Go collect some more flowers for me while I make the first one.” Both Shigeru and Kentarou nodded and rushed into the dark ended forest around the clearing to pick any flower they could find. 

Both boys came back to Watari with their arms full of flowers. They pushed and shoved each other to get to Watari first. 

After a couple minutes of their childish squabbling Watari had finished their flower crowns. 

“Come and get your flower crowns before you kill each other.” 

The boys each put on their flower crowns and got into position to begin their game. Watari stood on the stump he was previously seated on and stared down at the two boys.

“Ok since I’m the dragon you have to guard the princess while I defeat you to rescue him.” Shigeru looked at him like he was stupid.

“What else would I do? I’m the witch. I know what a witch does. My family hunts them.” After their brief exchange they both got into character.

Kentarou stood at the edge of the clearing and picked up a stick. Shigeru picked one up from the stump Watari was standing on and pointed it at Kentarou.

They both took a moment to get into their respective roles and then began their game.

“Oh no, I’ve been captured. I wish a young dragon prince would come defeat this witch for me.” Watari dictated from his stump.

“Don’t worry princess I’ve come to defeat the evil witch Shigeru.” Kentarou entered the clearing and pointed his stick towards Shigeru like a spear.

“You won’t be able to prince Kentarou, my magic is all powerful. I can make explosions, and they’ll destroy you.” Shigeru held his stick to the ground like a staff.

Kentarou ran at Shigeru while Shigeru made explosion noises. Kentarou faked a fall and then pretended to die. 

“I have slain the valiant prince, I am victorious!” Shigeru walked over to put his foot on Kentarou’s back. Shigeru’s foot was yanked out from under him, effectively throwing him to the ground. 

“My dragon jewel makes me immune to magic, I only pretended to die to trick you, evil witch.” Kentarou held his pretend spear to Shigeru’s neck. “Do you yield, witch?” 

Shigeru grabbed Kentarou’s stick and threw it away from him. Using Kentarou’s shock against him to push him off and get back to his feet. 

“I will never yield to you prince. I am a powerful witch, I shall never give up the princess.” While Shigeru was monologuing Kentarou grabbed his staff and threw it.

“How will you do magic now witch? Without your staff you can’t do magic.” Shigeru looked lost in thought for a moment before replying.

“I don't need magic to defeat you!” Shigeru launched himself toward Kentarou to tackle him.

Both boys began to wrestle on the ground. Kentarou kicked Shigeru in the stomach effectively allowing Kentarou to get up off the ground and pick up his pretend spear once more. 

Shigeru scrambled away from him and reached for his imaginary staff once more. But Watari stepped on it to break it. Then pointed at Shigeru and made an explosion noise. 

Shigeru made a dramatic scene of dying and then playing dead. Complete with the hand over the heart and the crying out for his parents.

“Thank you princess Watari, for helping me defeat the evil witch.” Watari looked at Kentarou for a moment, walked over to him, yanked the stick out of his hands and pretended to stab him with it. “Why princess, why?” Then Kentarou fell to his knees and pretended to die with just as much drama as Shigeru.

“You see I was never a princess at all. Shigeru was the prince of a foreign land, cursed to do my bidding. With both of you dead a war will break out across Dravestaria, and I as the most powerful witch in the world will claim the throne!” Watari paused for a moment “Hahaha!” and then added some dramatic laughter for effect.

Shigeru and Kentarou both got up and looked at the sky, it was beginning to grow dark. So they ended their game and said their goodbyes. 

Neither Shigeru or Kentarou had known it at the time, but this meeting changed their fates. While they hadn’t seen any wisps on that day, the wisps had seen them.


	2. They play in the woods again, that’s it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sup guys, wrote this in two days. Took me a bit, but it’s here.

Kentarou woke up bright and early, hoping to see his new friends once again.

He grabbed his map and put on his simpler clothes. After lacing up his boots and rushing out of his chambers he was confronted by his retainers.

“Kyoken, where are you going today.” 

“None of your business shittykawa.” Tooru stared down at his short liege and then looked at his fellow retainer. Hajime just looked at him and sighed.

“First of all, I’m your retainer so it is my business, and second of all language.” Tooru looked satisfied with his words but then opened his mouth once more. “So where are you going?”

“The woods.” 

“You better not be going to see a girl, Kyoken, you’re only seven!” Hajime sighed once again at his fellow retainer’s obnoxiousness.

“And you’re only ten!” Tooru looked down at Kentarou in annoyance. 

“Ok and? Iwa you can deal with him. I’m going back to the kitchen for breakfast.” 

“Ok shittykawa.” Tooru whipped around faster than Kentarou had ever seen.

“This is where Kyoken gets it from. Iwa I’m so disappointed in you.” Kentarou smirked at Tooru. “You know what I’m just gonna leave.”

After Tooru had left Hajime resumed the questioning.

“So why do you want to go to the woods?”

“I have some friends that I met yesterday.” Hajime sighed and looked down at his liege.

“How do you know that they're safe to be around? Do you want me to go with you?” Kentarou looked at Hajime for a moment before giving his answer.

“No, I’ll be fine, I have my dragon jewel with me. If they turn out to be dangerous I’ll just turn into a dragon and fly away.” Hajime cracked a small fond smile and then spoke.

“Just make sure to stay safe ok. Come back before dark, and take lunch with you.” Kentarou nodded to his retainer and then bolted to the royal kitchen to pick up an already prepared lunch. Kentarou didn’t know it but Tooru had already informed the cooks, and had made sure that bread, dried fruit, and meat had been packed for him, along with a canteen full of water. 

Kentarou rushed past the royal gardens and straight through the forest gate, ready for another day of adventure with his new friends. Meanwhile Shigeru and Watari were readying themselves at the Yahaba manor.

“Shigeru!” 

“Yes mother?” 

“Come here for a hug sweetie.” Shigeru ran up to his mother and gave her a long tight hug. “Ok do you have your dragon gem?” 

“Yes mother.”

“Do you have the lunch that Watari packed for you?” Shigeru nodded so fast that the smile on his face looked blurry. “Watari, do you have your lunch and your spear just in case?” 

“Yes madame Yahaba.” 

“Good, take care of my son, you both have my blessing to leave now, and remember, always be on the lookout for witches if you see one don’t hesitate to strike them down.” Watari nodded while Shigeru hugged his mother even tighter before letting her go. She stood up and walked back into the manor. 

Watari and Shigeru exited the manor and walked to the nearby entrance to the woods. 

“Let’s go!” Shigeru grabbed Watari’s hand and began to sprint at full speed toward the direction of the clearing. 

After a good thirty minutes of running and then stopping to take breaks, they arrived at the part of the forest where the trees grow thicker, and the forest grows darker. 

They entered the bright sunlit clearing, and saw Kentarou sitting on the stump from the day before.

“Kentarou!” Shigeru practically tackled him with a hug, while Watari just waved and set their stuff down next to the edge of the clearing.

“Hi.” Kentarou awkwardly got out of the hug.

“Shigeru and I brought enough food for all three of us. We have candied fruits, dried meat, bread, and honey.” Watari signaled to their bags.

“Ok, so what do we want to play first?” Shigeru smiled at his two friends.

“We could play princess, witch, and dragon, again.” Kentarou stated.

“We played that yesterday, how about we play witch hunter.” After Watari said this Shigeru’s eyes lit up, and Kentarou’s face became muddled with confusion.

“I’ve never played witch hunter.” Shigeru’s already bright eyes became even brighter at this revelation.

“Allow me to explain, witch hunt is a game where one person is a witch and everyone else is a hunter. To win the hunters have to go touch the back of the witches neck. The witch can win by eliminating all the hunters, all they have to do is slap them on the back. Witches get a head start to go hide while the hunters count to thirty. Ok?” Shigeru thought for a moment. “Ohh, I forgot something, witch hunters who are out have to return to the clearing.” 

“Yeah that makes sense. So who is the witch?” Kentarou looked at his two friends.

“Uhhhhh, I don’t know, Watari, do you want to be the witch?” Watari looked at Shigeru before sighing.

“No, I always get caught too fast, the game would be over really quick. How about you Kentarou?” Both boys looked at Kentarou.

“I’ve never played, so I want to be a hunter so I have someone to show me the ropes. So what if Shigeru was the witch?” Kentarou locked eyes with Shigeru for a moment as if trying to convince him.

“I’ll be the witch, since it is your first game after all. Watari, show him the ropes ok. I’m gonna start running now, so you guys should start counting.” Shigeru exited the clearing and began sprinting into the woods at full speed.

“There he goes, ok we need to start counting.” 

After thirty seconds had passed Kentarou and Watari began their search.

“Ok so we’re gonna stick together for now, it’ll make the search harder, but it’ll make actually catching him much easier. Kentarou, when you spot him go silent, sneak around and find out where he’s going. If he sees you attack, but if he doesn’t, wait for me to catch up so we can form a plan.”

“Ok.” 

Shigeru was bolting through the woods, fueled by adrenaline and the prospects of victory. The darkened area around him as well as the glowing flora made this the perfect place to play witch hunter. 

Shigeru climbed up into one of the larger trees and sat on one of its lower branches. He had a plan. First, split up Kentarou and Watari, because they were most likely together. Then eliminate them separately. Hiding in the tree gave him a spot to survey the area from, and an excellent hiding spot. He had picked up a medium sized pebble which he would throw into the bushes near the tree. 

The young lord stilled in his hiding place as he heard two nearly silent sets of footsteps approaching his hiding spot. He readied his stone, and figured out what trajectory he would throw it at. Once Kentarou and Watari had walked past his tree Shigeru threw the stone. 

Kentarou heard the noise and bolted towards it like a rabid dog. 

“Wait, Kentaro!” Watari started to run after him, but Shigeru was too fast. Shigeru gracefully plummeted to the ground and slapped Watari’s back. “I knew you were gonna do that.”

“Didn’t stop me from doing it. I’m gonna run now, before Kentarou realises he’s been tricked.” With that Shigeru ran back into the underbrush and began thinking about his next strategy.

He knew that Kentarou was much faster than him so simply evading him was going to be an issue but being in a forest full of cover gave Shigeru a clear advantage. During his short seven year life he had been taught many tactics about hunting witches. Those same tactics worked just as well when evading people, as they did when they were used for their intended purpose.

Shigeru put his new plan into action, first by setting up a small stick trap which would alert him of Kentarou’s presence. He had laid a circle of sticks around every possible entrance to the small area he was currently hiding in. Second he took off the outer layer of his coat and positioned it in the bushes so it would look like he was hiding there. Third, he waited, this time behind a small stump. 

Kentarou was running through the woods, going in the direction that Watari had pointed out to him. Observing the forest floor as he went along.

He noticed light footprints and some broken twigs and decided to follow those. 

Shigeru, still in his hiding spot, was sitting quietly, waiting to strike. Then he heard one of his twigs snap. He went dead quiet and readied himself.

Kentarou saw the coat in the underbrush and moved to grab it. Thinking it was Shigeru but as he did so he felt a small hand land on his back.

“I win.” Kentarou turned around and was met with the sight of a smirking Shigeru.

When they got back to the clearing Watari was sitting on the stump. 

“So I’m guessing Shigeru won, because he has that look on his face that he gets after he wins something.” Kentarou nodded at Watari.

“He snuck up on me.” Shigeru nodded extremely fast while Kentarou spoke.

“I’m actually kind of tired from that. We should have a snack before the next game.” Both Kentarou and Watari got up and started rummaging through their bags.

“Here.” Kentarou held out a piece of lightly seasoned dried beef to Shigeru. 

“No thanks Kentarou, Watari and I brought enough food.” Despite Shigeru’s refusal, Kentarou held it out to him again. “Fine, if you insist, but only if you let me give you something from my lunch.” 

Shigeru grabbed his lunch and took out a handful of candied strawberries.

“Here, we have a lot of these.” Kentarou let the berries fall into his hand, and then gave the piece of dried meat to Shigeru. 

Shigeru began to eat the beef and felt like he was in heaven, the light seasoning, and the texture of the beef was divine. There was no way that a commoner had been able to procure this unless they or their family were butchers. 

Kentarou ate one of the candied strawberries and wondered if it was the sweetest thing he had ever tasted. It melted in his mouth. He needed to ask the cooks to make these back at the castle. They were absolutely divine but this made him wonder, what was Shigeru’s family like. Did they make candies for a living? That would explain why these candied strawberries tasted so good. 

After resting for a while the boys began their game once more. They played till they grew tired of the game and went home. Each left more curious about their new friend than when they had entered.


	3. Even at seven Shigeru is a smug little bitch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do karate and I legit just copied point fighting rules and gave them sticks. I have no shame. I just like writing fight scenes but they’re like seven so I have to wait, so for now we get sparring scenes. As they say in France, Bone apple feet. :)

The next day was a bright one. The sun was shining but not overbearing. The temperature was just right, not too hot and not too cold, simply pleasant. 

The boys had once again gathered in the forest. Lunches in hand and smiles on their faces. Well smiles on Shigeru and Watari’s faces, Kentarou had his usual half way deadpanned half way annoyed look. 

Shigeru decided that it would be a wonderful idea to test how Kentarou was at sparring, and insisted that he and Watari both bring their training spears.

The two boys had arrived at the clearing earlier than Kentarou. Which all things considered was kind of weird. So there they waited, unsure of what to really do. 

Watari and Shigeru sat next to the stump, awaiting the arrival of their friend. Once Kentarou actually arrived Shigeru almost tackled him.

“Kentarou!” Shigeru grinned at him.

“Hi, Shigeru, hi Watari.” Watari smiled at his two friends. “So what do you guys wanna play today?” Kentarou asked the other boys. Shigeru’s already present grin grew impossibly wider.

“Watari and I brought our training spears. Do you want to spar with us? We can do point sparring or knock out sparring.” Kentarou looked at Shigeru for a moment, contemplating his offer. Kentarou had never sparred before but he’d watched Hajime and Tooru spar. So it couldn’t be that hard. 

“Sure.” Watari grabbed his training spear and handed it to Kentarou. A pointless wooden stick just long enough to be used like a spear, at least for a seven year old. One side was painted red, obviously supposed to be the part that would have been the blade or point. 

“So what kind of sparring do you guys wanna do? Because if I’m judging then I need to know.” 

“We’ll do point, it takes less energy and is usually over faster, since we aren’t warmed up yet it would be better to start with that.” Kentarou nodded along to what Shigeru was saying. He didn’t really understand but he just assumed that he could learn during the sparring session. 

“Ok, first to five points wins, the front torso is the only place that points can be scored. Don’t hit hard enough to kill, and when I say break you stop and go back to your starting positions. Understood?” Kentarou nodded hesitantly. “Ok each of you stand at the edge of the clearing, when I yell go you will start.” 

Shigeru confidently strutted to the edge of the clearing, assuming a practiced stance. It was at this moment that any pretense of this being easy was shattered in Kentarou’s mind. 

“Go!” 

Shigeru rushed forward with swan-like grace, clearly practiced. Kentarou just barely got out of the way.

Even with his speed Kentarou was at a clear disadvantage, he was almost constantly backing up. He was losing more ground every second. 

Shigeru adeptly stuck Kentarou across the stomach with the red end of his training spear. 

“Break! One point Shigeru. Return to your positions.” Kentarou was absolutely dumbfounded, Shigeru had obviously practiced this very thing many times. Despite being only seven Shigeru seemed like he would almost be an even match for Tooru in spear combat. 

Both the boys walked back to their sides of the clearing and readied themselves. Kentarou decided to copy Shigeru’s stance.

Bending his knees low enough that he felt grounded and positioning his body so that his hip was lined up with Shigeru’s even from across the clearing. He didn’t know why Shigeru faced him this way but it obviously worked so he copied it. 

“Go!” 

This time Kentarou was the one who rushed Shigeru. Using his speed and strength, effectively keeping Shigeru on the defensive. 

Due to Kentarou’s inexperience his movements were unpredictable to Shigeru, this was going to be a big problem on Shigeru’s path to victory. Even in his seven year old mind he could see that. 

Kentarou dodged one of Shigeru’s counter strikes and immediately followed up with one of his own, gaining a point in his favor.

“Break! One point Kentarou. The score is 1 to 1. Return to your positions.” 

This time Shigeru’s walk was less filled with confidence and more filled with careful contemplation. Due to Kentarou’s speed and unpredictability he would need to be cautious of any movement he made during the fight, or it could cost him another point. 

Shigeru assumed his usual stance and then upon seeing Kyotani do the same he was struck by a plan. Simply changing his striking method from a swing to a thrust would work, if Kentarou decided to charge him again he could use Kentarou’s speed against him. 

“Go!” 

Just as Shigeru had planned it, Kentarou tried to rush him. Shigeru dodged the first strike and followed up with a jab to Kentarou’s torso, both securing a point and thoroughly shocking Kentarou. 

“Break! One point Shigeru. The score is 2 to 1. Return to your positions.” 

As Kentarou walked back a lot was going through his mind. He was concerned and confused. 

Questions like “How did Shigeru predict that?” and “How did he react that fast?” were flowing through Kentarou’s mind. 

He readied that same stance once more, this time holding his practice spear in an upward facing direction. He was on guard this time, rushing in wouldn’t always work.

“Go!”

This time Kentarou circled Shigeru. Like a wild animal waiting for the perfect moment to attack. Waiting for his opponent to drop their guard. 

Shigeru did no such thing, and instead used a feint to trick Kentarou into charging him prematurely. Hastily striking Kentarou in the torso once again. Earning himself another point.

“Break! One point Shigeru. The score is 3 to 1. Return to your positions.” 

Kentarou’s mind was really racing now. He was more confused than anything else. How could a seven year old like himself be this good at sparring? Then it struck him, maybe it was just his inexperience.

Both boys assumed their stances once more.

“Go!” 

Kentarou and Shigeru began circling one another, waiting for the other to make a move. Kentarou, using Shigeru’s strategy against him, used a feint to trick Shigeru into charging. Though this endeavor turned out to be fruitless, due to Shigeru dodging. 

With that plan thrown out the window Kentarou decided to start rushing Shigeru, throwing him off balance. 

Shigeru was losing more ground than he was gaining throughout every exchange of strikes between them. One step forwards two steps back. 

So Shigeru was searching, searching for a single opening, and he found one. In Kentarou’s fervent aggression he had left himself open to a basic thrust attack.

For the fourth time today Shigeru had secured himself another point.

“Break! One point Shigeru. 4 to 1. Match point.”

Shigeru was brimming with confidence, even his stance reflected that. He looked looser, more relaxed, and worst of all for Kentarou, more threatening.

Kentarou had only seen him fight once, well he’s currently seeing him fight but whenever he looks relaxed during a fight he has something planned. That fact alone was deeply unsettling to Kentarou. 

“Go!”

Shigeru rushed forward this time. Just as he had during the first point. With precision and elegance he claimed his fifth point with a jab to Kentarou’s ribs. Kentarou didn’t even have time to think.

“Break! 5 to 1. Shigeru wins.” 

Shigeru donned a wide smirk, just as wide as he had yesterday when he beat Kentarou at witch hunter. This ignited something within Kentarou, annoyance, a deep seated rage. Though not a Shigeru, more at his own loss than anything. It was on this day that Kentarou vowed to himself that he would beat Shigeru at anything he could. Both to wipe the smirk off of Shigeru’s face and to feel the warmth of victory. 

“Good job.” Kentarou stuck his hand out for Shigeru to shake, in a show of sportsmanship. 

Shigeru grabbed his hand and hugged him instead, thoroughly confusing Kentarou. 

“Thanks for sparring with me Ken.” Ken, that’s a name Kentarou could get used to. Less formal than his first name, and more importantly, it made him feel all fuzzy inside. 

After a couple more sparring sessions and a few games of hide and seek the boys said their goodbyes for the day and began to head home. 

Kentarou woke up early but to his disappointment, it was raining. Raining was putting it lightly, from the large decorated glass window of his room he could see the grey sky releasing a torrent of water. 

In his seven year old mind a day like this meant one of two things, boring studying, or boring wandering.

To his surprise it ended up being the second one. His retainers didn’t force him to study. They were training today anyways, so Kentarou decided to watch them in the indoor training ground. 

A large room with a dirt floor, and a large glass domed ceiling. Columns decorated the outer edge of the room, separating the actual battle grounds from the equipment area. 

Tooru, Hajime, and Kentarou had the whole training ground to themselves. So Tooru and Hajime decided to train while Kentarou watched. 

Hajime rushed Tooru at the beginning of their first match, though he was struck a few times himself. This was obviously not point sparring. It was something different, maybe it was the knock out sparring that Shigeru had mentioned. After all it only ended when one party yielded. 

Tooru fell back and Hajime stuck the tip of his lance to Tooru’s throat.

“Do you yield?” Tooru looked at Hajime for a moment, before using his own lance to sweep Hajime’s feet out from under him. 

“No.” Tooru got up with almost blinding speed as Hajime did the same. Both went back to trading blows. It almost looked like they were dancing but more violent.

And Kentarou was entranced. He wanted to spar like this with Shigeru and Watari. Elegant yet savage, a dance of death. It was invigorating to watch. 

“Hajime!” Both Tooru and Hajime stopped sparring to look at their young liege. “I want to learn spear fighting.” 

“Kentarou you’re only seven, royalty usually start learning at nine. Are you sure you wanna learn?” Hajime looked down at the younger boy.

“Yes.”

“Ok.” 

Hajime and Tooru began teaching him all they knew about basic spear fighting.

Stances, strikes, blocks, strategy, timing, and much more. 

A few years passed in the blink of an eye. The three boys grew to the age of twelve, they couldn’t play as often. Shigeru had to attend his daily lessons, and Kentarou had to learn the ways of running a nation but one thing remained constant was their competitiveness. Well Shigeru and Kentarou that is. Watari tried to stay out of it. 

Shigeru continued to train as usual, his parents always monitoring his progress, while Kentarou’s retainers monitored his progress in place of his parents. 

“Tooru.” Tooru followed the Queen after her summon. 

“Yes lady Kyoutani.” 

“What are the Yahaba families' current movements? Have they encroached into the wisp sanctuary recently.” To Tooru it felt as if lady Kyotani’s eyes were stabbing him.

“I’ve only picked up trace amounts of activity in the wisp sanctuary from their son recently. It appears that he hasn’t been doing anything harmful to the clearing or the wisps.” 

“That is reassuring, has my son shown any promise in the way of magic?” Lady Kyotani looked at Tooru from her luxurious red plush chair. 

“No, but he has obvious traces of magic on him every time he leaves the forest after playing with his friends. It doesn’t feel like the magic of a wisp either, it’s almost foreign. Magic from a family that hasn’t had a witch in centuries.” Lady Kyotani’s eyes widened at this.

“If you could get a sample of it I could pinpoint which family this young witch belongs to. Is the magic palpable enough?” 

“No, it’s in such trace amounts that I doubt the child has even realized that he has magic yet.” Tooru sighed. “Kyoken won’t even tell me anything about his friends either, it’s been five years and no one knows anything about them. Not even Hajime knows anything, and he tells Hajime everything.” 

Lady Kyotani sighed at this as well. “Well, in any case we need to see about acquainting my son and the son of the Yahaba family soon, maybe within a year. We need to keep up a strong tie between them so as not to cause a civil war. See to it that my son has impeccable manners when meeting with the young lord, I’ve heard that he is almost obsessed with noble titles and the nobility in general.” 

“Yes my Queen.”


	4. Bruh, imagine studying. Hahaha no.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took such a long time guys. Each chapter is progressively getting longer and I don’t know what to do. Well, how are you guys doing? Personally I think this one is even more heartwarming than the last one.
> 
> Enjoy the chapter :)

It was a beautiful spring day. Shigeru had just woken up, and immediately realized that it was his twelfth birthday. The most important day of his childhood, and consequently his last. His last day of freedom. Once his ceremony was over he would have his last day of free time.

He met his mother in their great hall, in front of the entire household. Every servant of the manor had gathered to witness the passage of their young lord into the beginnings of his new adolescent life.

Shigeru placed himself in front of his mother’s throne, his knees on the ground and his head bowed as if in prayer.

“We are gathered on this blessed day to witness the passage of my son from childhood to adolescence. Would all rise.” Everyone who was sitting previously stood up in what seemed like a practiced unison. 

Lady Yahaba was handed the ceremonial spear. She placed the blade upon her son's left shoulder. 

After reciting a prayer to the elder dragon she removed the blade.

“Lift your head my son.” Shigeru did as he was told.

His mother kneeled down and placed an elegantly crafted necklace around his neck. 

A dragon jewel. No, his dragon jewel.

It was composed of a crescent moon-like shape that repeated at the top to form a swish. At the lower tip a singular miniature black pearl was hung on the white marble like base jewel from a tiny silver chain. 

The jewel itself was small enough to comfortably fit in the palm of a small child, but the intricate swirl carvings on the jewel itself was what set it apart from a basic dragon jewel. 

The carvings were of dragons, specifically snake-like dragons, curling around one another, weaving themselves into an unrecognizable pattern. Despite the small size of the jewel every individual scale of the tiny dragons could be made out by even the untrained eye. To Shigeru it was mesmerizing. 

Though as the ceremony continued all Shigeru could think about was showing this to Kentarou. He couldn’t wait to see the starry eyed expression his friend would make and then immediately try to hide. That was one of the many things Shigeru admired about Kentarou. Though he would never admit that himself, or Kentarou.

“Stand my son.” I stood as she instructed. “All rise.” Everyone rose once more. “Do you swear loyalty and fealty to the royal family of Dravestaria, under oath to the high dragon?”

“I swear to protect the crown with my life if it comes to pass.” Shigeru’s mother smiled.

“Turn around my son, address your servants.” 

“I swear to support and protect the Kyoutani family and lineage with my very soul.” All of the servants began to applaud. 

Once the ceremony was over, Shigeru rushed out into the woods, with his training spear on his back and Watari’s as well. Watari had to stay behind to help catch up on estate chores.

In Shigeru’s mind this would be the last time he would see Kyoutani. Unless he could convince him to join the estate staff. He was hopeful. 

The woods were bright and vibrant, the first day of March was still chilly, but it was much warmer than it was two weeks ago, and Shigeru was thankful for it. 

Life was returning to the outer edges of the forest. Shigeru always loved this time of year, the pretty green leaves began to come in and the flowers started to bloom. The forest was covered in bright colors and noises.

Birds singing to one another, squirrels quarrelling over nuts and berries, and rabbits hopping through the short grass.

Shigeru reached the darker part of the forest, where the flowers bloom all year, and the temperature remains the same. It’s always been a mystery to Shigeru how that is. 

Kentarou was already waiting inside the clearing, taking a short nap on the silky grass. Shigeru didn’t want to wake him so he sat down next to him instead. 

When asleep Kentarou looked at peace. Unlike how he usually was when awake, brash, loud, unruly, and aggressive. Though Shigeru liked him anyways, I mean he would’ve had to, to have remained friends with him for this long. 

Five years of Shigeru’s life coming to a close, after this it would all be studying and training. The occasional witch hunt and appearances in court but other than that his life would mostly go back to how it was before he met Kyoutani. Hanging out with Watari while he worked and trained. 

Before meeting Kentarou, Shigeru never really played outside the estate. He didn’t want to. He had everything he could ever want there but now he wanted to play out here, in the woods, with his best friend. Though Shigeru knew that wasn’t an option. 

Shigeru pulled his knees to his chest and rested his head upon them. He used his arms to shield his eyes and escaped to his happy place. A little void where he didn’t have to worry about anything, nothing could hurt him here. Not a future without Kentarou in it. Not an evil witch. Not even his mother’s expectations of him. Nothing could touch him here.

“Hey, uhh, are you okay.” Apparently Kentarou’s voice could reach him there. 

“Oh, uh yeah. I’m fine, how long have you been awake?” Kentarou stared up at Shigeru for a moment. 

“A while.” Kentarou looked around. “Where’s Watari?” 

“He’s still doing some chores back at home.” Shigeru looked around awkwardly, doing his best to avoid eye contact. “Do you wanna spar? Knock out?” Kentarou nodded. “Here.” Shigeru handed him one of the training spears.

Both of them took their places at the edges of the clearing. Assuming their stances. Neither needed to communicate verbally to know the other was ready. They could see it in the other’s eyes. 

Kentarou rushed at Shigeru using every ounce of speed he could muster, catching Shigeru off guard, and knocking the wind out of him. 

Shigeru lept backwards still trying to catch his breath while Kentarou continued to charge him with a barrage of strikes. He had to think fast or he would be driven onto the ground.

Using his spear as leverage, Shigeru launched himself forward and landed a thrusting strike with the full force of his body, effectively knocking Kentarou off balance.

Kentarou caught himself shortly after and started circling Shigeru. Both on their guard and ready to strike at any moment. 

Instead of letting Kentarou catch him off guard another time Shigeru struck first. Aiming for Kenatarous shins and then his ribs in quick succession. 

This time it was Kentarou who was jumping backwards. Shigeru used this as a moment of reprieve to catch his breath. That was a mistake.

Kentarou saw his slightly lowered guards and immediately moved in to strike. With Shigeru even mildly distracted Kentarou was able to get in multiple full power strikes which were just enough to knock Shigeru down. 

Though the fight wasn’t over. Shigeru grabbed Kentarou as he was falling, turning their spear fight into a grappling match to see who could get to their feet faster while keeping the other on the ground. 

To Shigeru’s surprise it ended with him on the ground with the red tip of a wooden stick pressed to his throat and his training spear halfway across the clearing.

“I yield.” Kentarou threw his training spear to the edge of the clearing where the other one rested, and then offered Shigeru a hand. 

“I liked that weird technique you used, the one where you launched yourself. Could you teach it to me sometime?” 

“Sure.” Shigeru paused. “Actually I have something to show you.” Shigeru pulled his dragon jewel necklace out from beneath his shirt. “Today was my twelfth birthday, this is my dragon jewel, pretty isn’t it?” 

In Kentarou’s mind all he could think was how pretty was underselling it. The white marble like jewel and the intricate carvings were almost hypnotizing. They kind of reminded him of Shigeru's eyes. 

“Yeah.” This confirmed most of Kentarou’s suspicions about Shigeru possibly being a member of the nobility. Or at least having connections to the nobility.

“Umm, I have something to ask you.” Shigeru took both of Kentarou’s hands into his and held them to his chest. “Please join my guard, or become one of my retainers. I won’t be able to play here ever again, and I don’t wanna let go of our friendship.” Shigeru’s eyes were closed and he was shaking. Seeing this hurt Kentarou for some reason. 

“No.” Shigeru’s eyes opened instantly and he stopped shaking. The look on his face was one of visible terror, as if an innocent had just been killed in front of him.

“I, I …” He went silent, his eyes were cast towards the ground, before Kentarou continued. 

“I’m sorry, I can’t, I wish I could.” 

Shigeru dropped Kentarou’s hands and turned around. He picked up the training spears and put them onto his back. He walked to the edge of the clearing.

“I would say see you later, but I don’t want to lie to you.” With that Shigeru ran out of the clearing, leaving Kentarou with only his thoughts. 

After leaving the clearing Shigeru found a dark corner of forest and began to cry, surrounded by glowing mushrooms and crowded by his own tears. 

Attempting and failing to reach his happy place. 

When Shigeru arrived at the estate Watari greeted him as he usually would but Shigeru didn’t respond. He simply went up to his quarters and sobbed into his bed. 

After this Shigeru devoted himself entirely to his training and studies. Only taking breaks when advised to by Watari. His one and only confident. After all he lost the only other one he ever had.

The other members of high society soon began to notice the young lord Yahaba’s talent in almost all studies and in spearman ship. In other words he upheld his family name, even at only twelve he was not one to disappoint. Though all of this was spread through rumor. So not everyone was quick to believe such things. 

His life continued on like this until the next spring. Shigeru Yahaba, age thirteen, still yet to make his debut into the actual aristocracy, was set to meet with his future king later this very day. The prince whom he had sworn his life to in exchange for throwing away his friendship with Kentarou. 

Needless to say Shigeru wasn’t happy about this. He was being rushed around the estate, having his hair constantly fiddled with by servants, and his outfit tailored while still on his body. It was stressful.

Though he could say that he definitely liked this outfit. A deep purple overcoat with a silky white shirt beneath and lovely white leather boots, practically a trademark of all witch hunters. 

Once he was all “dolled up” in the words of his servants, he was finally allowed to walk around on his own until it was time to leave.

The clicking of his short heels was obnoxious to listen to so Shigeru opted to sit by one of the window sills in the main foyer. Watari walked in to join him.

Watari was clad from head to toe in what looked like royal guardsman attire, but with the signature purple fabric and white leather of the Yahaba family present. 

Instead of an obnoxious clicking noise Watari’s armored boots clanked on the floor, and to Shigeru, who had been protected by people clad in armor his entire life, the sound was reassuring.

“How are you holding up?” Watari gestured to his face.

“Pretty well all things considered.” Watari gave him an accusatory look. “ I’m still upset about Kentarou. It’s been a year, and I’m still upset. I just, ughhhh, it makes me sick just thinking about it.” Shigeru fixed his gaze on the ground, unwilling to meet Watari’s eyes.

“I get it, I feel the same way sometimes. I didn’t get to say goodbye to him but I always kinda knew that we wouldn’t be able to hang out with him forever. I had a small hope that he would become a retainer like me or even a servant at the estate but that obviously didn’t happen.” Watari turned to look at Shigeru. “All we can do is keep moving forward, much like how Kentarou probably is right now.”

“The thing about that is, Kentarou isn’t moving forward, in fact he’s regressing. Regressing in what you may ask. His manners.” Tooru dictated to Hajime. “That Yahaba boy is coming over today to have a grand audience with him and he’s still acting like a young child.” Tooru was exasperated. Completely and totally exasperated. 

Kentarou had been stubborn, and unwilling to do anything ever since Shigeru had gone. It had been over a year since that day and he was still acting like this. Hajime and Tooru didn’t know what to do. At this point Hajime had given up on teaching him manners and Tooru was trying and failing.

“Fine if you want to act like that, then act like that. The Yahaba family is going to be unwilling to work with you once you’re king but that isn’t my problem.” Tooru sighed. “Go get ready. I’m going to fetch the prince regalia. Please come out of your chambers presentable.” Kentarou glared at him and slammed the door to his chambers in Tooru’s face.

After a few minutes of toying with his clothes, Kentarou picked out a basic outfit. Just a cyan coat, white pants, and a silky shirt. He would of course have to don the royal cape and prince regalia anyways so he felt that this would be enough. It was also the bare minimum that Tooru would accept, so it would work for now.

The prince’s regalia consisted of a ring of silver with what looked like deer antlers made of ivory sticking out of them. The intricate dragon carvings and the color of the horns reminded Kentarou of Shigeru’s dragon jewel. He stopped looking at them.

After he had placed them on his head and Tooru had adjusted them, Hajime placed the cyan and white royal cape on his back. 

They guided him to the throne room and sat him down next to his father in a smaller but still decadent throne.

This was one of the few times Kentarou had seen his father up close in his thirteen year life. And it was enough for Kentarou. He could honestly care less for his father. 

After being sat down and waiting for what felt like a long time the doors of the throne room opened. 

Kentarou felt like he had just been punched in the gut. 

Shigeru walked in. This had to be a joke. Some sick twisted joke.

“We are proud to present young lord Shigeru Yahaba.” 

Shigeru made eye contact with Kentarou and looked as if he had also been punched in the gut. Though not in pain, in blistering anger, and rage. 

And Watari just looked done, done with everything.


	5. Ahaha, Shigeru is angy, so is Kentarou, what am I doing with my life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that I’ve been gone for like four days, I had exams. I’ve also been procrastinating but it’s here now. I had to cut it short, so it’s only around 2000 words. Guess what time it is, sparring time. Seriously every chapter seems to have a sparring scene, I have no self control. I’m so sorry for all of them. I refuse to abandon this fic so have fun with the sparring. :)

In Shigeru’s mind this would have gone much differently. He would have met the prince, pledged his loyalty, and then left right after.

That was not how it went.

Because after all the grand build up and training. After entering through massive doors to a decadent hall lit by candle and covered in shadow. The most illuminated thing in the room, the thrones, had to have someone very familiar sitting upon one of them.

Kentarou, or as was evident now, prince Kentarou. Decked out in princely regalia with a cape draped upon his back. Those antlers or horns or whatever they were, seemed obnoxious to Shigeru. Much like anything related to royalty, in Shigeru’s mind, they looked decedent, and overbearing. 

“My prince, I have come to swear absolute loyalty to you and your future.” Shigeru bowed deeply to his former best friend. This sight was exactly what Kentarou had been trying to avoid. This is why he never told Shigeru of his family name or title. “I pledge to you, with the current king and the court as witnesses, I will protect you down to my last breath. I will give my very life if need be. I Shigeru Yahaba of the noble family Yahaba, pledge this in accordance with the high dragon and all of his descendants.” 

Kentarou’s father nudged him, “Son, you have to say that you accept.” Kentarou glared at his father and then spoke.

“I accept your pledge of loyalty.” The tension in the room was extremely awkward. Even Watari felt awkward. “May I speak with you in private?” Shigeru looked quite shocked but still nodded.

“Yes my prince.” Kentarou led Shigeru into a smaller parlor within the castle. 

White walls, polished wood floors, and aquamarine drapes. This was quite a change of scenery from the shadow covered throne room and from the Yahaba manor, made of blackened stone and greyed wood, with purple and gold accents everywhere. So needless to say this room felt unlike any parlor Shigeru had ever been in. It was pleasant, but Kentarou’s presence made things unnecessarily awkward. 

Once Kentarou had closed the doors behind them Shigeru dropped his noble facade.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Shigeru took in a deep breath to steady himself. “Why didn’t you tell me, no why didn’t you tell us?” 

“Why didn’t you tell me about your family?” Shigeru’s eyes widened.

“I, I…” Shigeru clenched his fists. “You never asked!” 

“Neither did you!” 

Shigeru stuck his finger in Kentarou’s face, “Listen here, you don’t just keep secrets like that from your best friends. Just because I didn’t tell you my family name didn’t mean that I didn’t indicate to you on multiple occasions that I was nobility, prince.” At this Kentarou had had enough.

“Shut up! I didn’t tell you because of this!” Kentarou stepped towards Shigeru.

“Being a prince comes with expectations,” Kentarou took another step forward, Shigeru took two back. 

“which you have to exceed.” Another step forward, another two towards the wall. 

“You don’t know what it’s like to constantly have others looming over you, expecting the world and more from you, even before you’re ten years old.” 

Shigeru’s back hit the wall. Kentarou’s horned crown sticking into the wall around his head. 

“I do know. Why would a seven year old be good at spear fighting Ken? Use your brain. I was born into a family of prestigious witch hunters, without an actual lord. My father has been absent from my life from before the time I was born. I have to fill the hole he left when I become an adult.” Kentarou looked down at the shorter boy.

“So I know what it’s like, feeling suffocated by others expectations. You’re not the only one who deals with this Ken.” Shigeru pushed Kentarou backwards to free himself from the wall and walked off. 

Kentarou felt conflicted. On one hand he could go after Shigeru and apologize, and on the other he could not do anything and not have to deal with another confrontation.

“Shigeru!” The other boy turned to look at his prince. “I, I just, ughh, do you want to spar?” 

To say Shigeru was shocked would be an understatement. 

“Fine, but I want you to bet something on it, I’ll of course bet something as well.” Kentarou nodded, “If I win, I want you to stop trying to talk to me in private and casually. Our relationship will be strictly one of only duty. I will be your shield and that is all, understood?” Kentarou felt like the air had been ripped from his lungs.

“I agree, but if I win we go back to being friends and you’ll come watch a colosseum show with me.” Shigeru’s eyes widened.

“Deal.” 

Both boys stuck their hands out to shake on the deal. 

Then Kentarou started to speak.

“We’ll spar at the indoor castle training grounds tonight, after the bell tolls for seven o’clock. I’ll provide the training weapons.” Shigeru sighed.

“That would be great and all if I wasn’t leaving in only a few hours. I’m not even staying for dinner Kentarou. I would need a royal invitation for that, and seeing as I don’t have one, that won’t be happening.” 

“Consider it done.” Shigeru’s eyes widened more than Kentarou had ever seen them, and his face flushed a bright pink color. Kentarou decided that out of all of the faces Shigeru made, this was his absolute favorite.

“What, I, l-”

“Did you forget that I’m a prince, this is my home, so if I say you're invited then you're invited.” Kentarou stepped away from Shigeru. “I’ll go inform your mother and the palace staff of the invitation.

Once Kentarou had left Shigeru rushed over to the mirror sitting in the other corner of the room and observed his face. To his absolute disdain there was a blush present. 

He really couldn’t deal with this, not after that bet. He had known that he may have had slight feelings for Kentarou before that incident last year, but that was his best friend Ken, not prince Kentarou. Shigeru refused to let himself be distracted by such paultry things, such as a childhood crush, letting it get to him now would be asinine. 

Then it struck Shigeru, Kentarou just wanted their friendship back, so he may have already been friend zoned, actually now that he knows Kentarou is the prince he knows that it would never work, but Kentarou also asked him out in the same bet. It was all so confusing. 

Later, during the evening, Shigeru was getting ready for the clock to strike seven. He wanted to get this match over with, as fast as possible. If he won he could forget his feelings and his former friendship, and finally move on with his life. 

Shigeru picked up a basic training spear. The ones at the castle were a bit different from the ones at home but they would manage. 

The one Shigeru picked up was wooden but obviously had a core of something stronger, possibly metal, so any strike delivered would hurt like hell. It had an arrow-like spear head on the end, though they were made of wood and unsharpened, with enough force it could definitely pierce the skin. If this was the standard training spear for a royal guardsman, Shigeru shuddered to think of how painful their training sessions were when they were younger. 

Well Shigeru didn’t really have any time to think about it now. The bells around the castle signifies that it was now seven.

Kentarou entered the training hall accompanied by two unfamiliar looking men, one with short spiky black hair, and the other with a fake smile and brown swooping hair. 

Watari had been sitting down for most of the time that Shigeru had been examining the training spears, so he simply looked at the men and then back at his liege. 

“Awwww, so this is the little Yahaba boy that Kyoken sulked over for a year.” The one with the fake smile approached him and then pinched one of his cheeks.

“Quit it shittykawa, leave the kid alone.” The one with spiky hair yelled at what seemed like his companion. 

“Fine Iwa.” The swoopy haired man thought for a moment. 

“Before we start I say we do introductions. I’m Tooru Oikawa. This angry man is my best friend and the love of my life,” Hajime put his fist up and glared at Tooru. “Hajime Iwaizumi.” Hajime put his fist down and Tooru visibly relaxed. “So who's your friend over there?” Tooru pointed to Watari.

“Watari Shinji, my retainer.” Tooru nodded to himself and then grabbed a training spear. 

“How about this, before you and Kyoken spar how about we have a warm up round. I’ll spar with you and Hajime can spar with Kentarou, how about it.” Shigeru’s mind was filled with warnings. The way Tooru looked at him was almost malice filled, hidden behind a layer of pleasantries and fake smiles. “Your retainer should be able to officiate both, if he’s qualified that is.”

Now Tooru was really starting to piss Shigeru off. Watari obviously wasn’t fazed by this and instead opted to remain calm.

“I am qualified, I’ve been doing this for years. If you're all doing knockout then it should be fairly easy.” Tooru smirked. 

“I see.” Tooru turned to Kentarou. “How did the Yahaba family find him? You should have nabbed him as a third retainer Kyoken.” Kentarou and Hajime sighed. 

“How about we get started. Who wants to go first?” Watari looked at the two pairs. Hajime picked up two training spears.

“We’ll go first.” Kentarou nodded to Hajime as he threw the training spear to him. 

Both took their places on the opposite sides of the room. Kentarou getting into the same stane he always did. Knees bent, one hip facing his opponent, spear pointed diagonally towards the ground, eyes locked on his opponent.

Hajime’s stance was weird. It was similar to Kentarou’s stance but off. He held his spear behind his back, Shigeru couldn’t place his finger on it but he’d seen someone do something similar before. 

“Go!” Watari’s shout started the match. 

Kentarou rushed forward like always but was met with a device strike. Hajime used the spear behind his back as leverage to get a wider strike in. With more room to swing the spear his strike was more powerful.

It was then that it hit Shigeru, this was the way a fighter from Necrovaros would fight. He’d only seen a few of them but what he had seen had shocked him. The people of Necrovaros, a small cluster of islands to the south west of Dravestaria, were undead. They were ancient husks, so seeing Hajime fight like one was moldy startling. Their fighting style focused on wide arcing strikes and leaving the body open to trick your opponent. 

So seeing Hajime use it was kind of weird, though seeing as he was one of Kentarou’s retainers he guessed that it made sense that he would know multiple styles. Though it was still mildly suspicious. 

Kentarou’s initial charge was blocked with enough force to send him flying back to the side. He caught himself but just barely, and in an instant Hajime was on the offensive. Immediately going in for another wide strike. Kentarou was barely able to block the strike and get out of the way. 

Hajime followed up with another arcing strike, this time over his head aiming for Kentarou’s ribs. Though Kentarou was faster and used the bit of his training spear to knock the air out of Hajime, sending him stuttering backwards for a few moments. 

Though these few moments were all the Kentarou needed. Using his signature barrage of strikes he forced Hajime onto the ground and held the end of his training spear to Hajime's neck. Both were breathing quite heavily.

“Do you… do you yield.” Kentarou was obviously extremely tired after that match. Hajime simply nodded and Kentarou offered him a hand. 

“We’re up Shigeru.” Tooru flashed his ever present fake smile at his opponent.

It was this moment that Shigeru felt true fear.


	6. Haha, is it gay to kind of ask your homie on a date?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that I’ve been gone for a bit guys, Christmas and all ya know. I was taking a break, and now I’m on vacation, so I probably won’t get back to posting really speedily until maybe a week from now. Also guess what, more sparring scenes, I’m no longer sorry. So uhhhh, enjoy.

Shigeru stalked over to his side of the room, not breaking eye contact with Watari. He assumed his stance and then turned to lock eyes with Tooru.

Cold, calculating, and predatory, like a lion waiting to devour its prey, that was how Shigeru would describe the look in Tooru’s eyes. It was terrifying but at the same time it was also infuriating.

Tooru’s stance was just as weird as Hajime’s. He held his spear like a two handed sword or claymore. It was mildly confusing, though if the way Hajime fought was any indication, Shigeru knew to keep his guard up.

“Go!” 

Surprisingly Tooru didn’t make the first move, he simply adjusted his stance as Shigeru circled him. He was waiting, for an attack, or more likely for an opening.

And it seemed that he had found one. Without warning Tooru charged forward, using a wide strike like Hajime he almost knocked Shigeru off his feet. Tooru ducked behind Shigeru as he stumbled and hit the back of Shigeru’s left knee, causing him to crumple to the ground. 

Though Shigeru didn’t give up without a fight. Before Tooru could secure his victory Shigeru used his training spear as leverage to launch himself off the ground and towards Tooru. Thoroughly shocking his opponent in the process. 

Tooru could do nothing but dodge as he tried to regain his bearings as Shigeru used a flurry of thrusting strikes to keep him at bay.

Going further backwards and losing more ground every second caused Tooru’s brain to go into overdrive. He then realized that Shigeru’s basic style and stance were identical to Kentarou’s, though they used the style in different ways, the fundamentals were exactly the same. 

This gave Tooru an idea, based on how much lighter Shigeru’s strikes were compared to Kentarou’s, Tooru could tell that he was significantly weaker than his liege. So utilizing one of Hajime’s favorite strikes would work nicely to bring Tooru a decisive victory.

Tooru adjusted his stance and went in for a strike from the back. Shigeru blocked it to the best of his ability but was knocked down. Shortly there after the tip of a training spear made its way over his neck.

“Do you yield?” As much as it pissed Shigeru off to say it.

“I yield.” He did.

Tooru smiled and helped him up. Though it wasn’t one of his fake smiles. This change in demeanor was extremely confusing for Shigeru. 

“Well I guess it’s our turn now.” Tooru handed Kentarou his training spear.

“Before we start, I have one thing to say. I’m going to defeat you, not just for the bet, for my pride as a nobleman as well.” Shigeru walked over to his side of the room, and Kentarou walked over to his.

They both assumed their stances, practically mirrors of one another. Bent knees, spears pointed diagonally toward the ground, and eyes locked on one another.

“Go!” 

Kentarou immediately tried to rush Shigeru, using his strength and speed to launch a flurry of strikes at his opponent. 

Shigeru dodged and used his training spear to stop Kentarou’s advance. Both boys began circling each other, both looking for an opening. Kentarou found his and knocked Shigeru to the ground with a strike to the back of the knee. 

Thinking fast, Shigeru sweeped Kentarou’s left leg causing him to fall at the same time. 

Both boys scrambled to get back on their feet before their opponent. Shigeru was up first but that didn’t stop Kentarou from dragging him back down and using Shigeru as leverage to get up himself. 

Shigeru decided that it would be easier to get up if he was away from Kentarou and scrambled away from him. 

Kentarou charged at Shigeru while he was still regaining his footing. Shigeru, who had prepared for this, used his training spear as leverage to launch himself out of the way. 

Though Shigeru wasn’t completely out of trouble. Kentarou had anticipated this trick of his and was already charging him with a flurry of strikes once again. 

Losing ground every second, Shigeru had to think fast. 

Shigeru charged back at Kentarou instead of dodging. He received quite a few strikes but was persistent in his goal. 

With one quick thrusting strike to Kentarou’s stomach Shigeru had knocked the wind out of his opponent. Though much to his dismay this did not stop Kentarou, instead it made him fight harder. 

Shigeru felt a horrible stinging in his right leg and fell to the ground. Kentarou had struck his leg to make him fall. 

There wasn’t much Shigeru could really do at the moment so he accepted his defeat. Kentarou put the tip of his training spear to Shigeru’s neck and before he could even ask, Shigeru spoke.

“I yield.” Kentarou threw his spear to the side and helped Shigeru up. 

Just then the door to the training room opened. 

“Lady Kyoutani!” Both Hajime and Tooru immediately bowed, Shigeru bowed almost immediately after he realized who had entered the room.

“Stop bowing, I’m not here for anything formal, I was here to watch my son spar, though it seems like he’s already won. Though I did need to talk to young lord Yahaba. May I borrow him for a moment son?” Kentarou nodded to his mother. 

After exiting the room she led Shigeru to what seemed like a quart yard, it was filled with glowing mushrooms and flowers from the forest.

“If I may ask lady Kyoutani, why have you brought me here?” Kentarou’s mother simply looked down at him and then gestured to a bed of glowing blue flowers.

“Do you recognize them?” The flowers looked just like the ones that grew around the clearing. 

“Yes, they are from the woods. If I may ask, why are they being grown here?” Lady Kyoutani only smiled at this. 

“Kentarou planted them, well, he and his retainers planted them. He came home one day with a flower crown on and then started trying to stick them in the ground out here. This is where he goes to think, his own little glowing garden.” She paused and looked up at the stars for a moment, the smile on her face fading for a second and then returning.

“Well it’s a lovely garden. If I may ask once again, why did you bring me out here lady Kyoutani.” Her eyes narrowed at him, though only for a moment.

“I needed to ask you something but I forgot, maybe I’ll remember next time. Though I would like to see your dragon jewel for a moment. Do you have it on at the moment?” Shigeru reached around the back of his neck, pulled his necklace off, and handed it to the queen.

It landed softly in her palm. Lady Kyoutani delicately held his dragon jewel while she examined it. 

“The detail work is very intricate, have you ever used your jewel?” 

“I cannot say I have, lady Kyoutani.” Her eyes widened for a split second and then returned to normal.

“Most noble children your age would be galavanting around their manor’s in dragon form as often as possible, though I guess it makes sense, you and my son share a lot in common. He’s been able to transform since he was a young boy and yet he’s only done so three times in his whole life. Can you believe it?” Shigeru had to stifle a few giggles.

“I can, he’s been like that since he was little.” Shigeru realized how casual he was being and almost immediately began to panic. “Please excuse my impudents lady Kyoutani!” Kentarou’s mother chuckled at Shigeru’s panic.

“It’s fine, I permit you to speak this way with me, there, no more panicking. Simply speak to me as you would to your friend's mother.” Lady Kyoutani’s smile was bright and warm, almost sickly sweet.

“Thank you lady Kyoutani.” 

“Don’t worry about it, and also, if you ever need advice feel free to come to me.” Lady Kyoutani stood up and handed Shigeru his dragon jewel. She put her hand on his shoulder and smiled at him warmly before leaving. 

Later that night Shigeru retired to the guest room he was staying in and fell asleep on the soft plush bed. 

A couple weeks later at the Yahaba manor, Shigeru was in the middle of his daily studying session, looking over scrolls about politics and economics, when Watari burst into the room. 

“Shigeru, you’ve been sent a letter. It’s from Kentarou, do you want me to read it out?” Shigeru paused his work and rolled up the scrolls he was reading.

“Sure, if it’s in a letter it obviously isn’t that important, if it was he would come speak to us in person.” Watari nodded and then took the letter opener off of Shigeru’s desk. While leaning over the desk using his free hand to support himself Watari began to read. 

“To whom it may concern, Shigeru Yahaba, of the noble family Yahaba, is cordially invited to attend the next colosseum show, this Saturday.” Shigeru almost laughed.

“He obviously didn’t write this, I think his retainers helped him with this.” Watari smirked.

“Well it has two notes on the bottom half of the page and the handwriting is much messier so I assume the stuff at the bottom is what he actually wrote. The first one is just asking you to bring me, and the second one is labeled for your eyes only so I’m going to leave this one with you.” Watari winked at his friend, and Shigeru almost started to chuckle. 

“I’ll read it later, for now I have some work to do. I need to get my work done before Saturday.” Shigeru unrolled his reading material from earlier and started studying with newfound vigor. 

“Do you want me to pen an acceptance letter?” Shigeru looked up.

“That would be helpful, thank you.” Watari nodded and then left the room.

“Did he accept?” Tooru looked at his younger liege and could only find the energy to sigh.

“Kentarou it’s only been a day, any letter that he could have penned will not arrive for at least a day. You have a few days anyways. Stop worrying about it and put the energy that you’re using to sulk over this into your studies.” Kentarou groaned. 

“Why should I? I have retainers like you and Hajime who can advise me on any matter like this, why should I have to study any of this?” Tooru had half a mind to smack him. Though Hajime beat him to it.

“You need to study because we won’t always be around, you need to be able to make educated decisions on your own, you’ll end up a weak king if you can’t do that.” Kentarou nodded.

By the time Shigeru had gotten an adequate amount of work, well adequate to his standards, and excessive to anyone else’s, done it was late into the evening, he was still yet to read the extra note attached to the letter. Though curiosity about it’s contents had been plaguing him throughout the day. 

Shigeru grabbed the letter from the edge of his desk and immediately drew his eyes to the small note at the bottom of the page.

“Shigeru, do you want to hang out after the colosseum show? Just the two of us, we can go hang out in the woods like old times, or we can walk around the city. Let me know your thoughts the next time we see each other.” Shigeru’s head was racing, questions like, is this a date, and what if he likes me back, were racing through his mind. 

Though Shigeru highly doubted that Kentarou had any feelings for him, outside of some kind of basic friendship. So he would not allow himself to get his hopes up what so ever. Either way they couldn’t be together anyways, it wasn’t a matter of them both being guys, that was fine, even with Kentarou being royalty, that what concubines are for. It was mostly because of Shigeru’s noble title, a union between a Kyoutanu and Yahaba was almost strictly forbidden by both families. In the case that a civil war ever breaks out one family holding a member of the other could be seen as holding a prisoner of war and incite more violence. 

To Shigeru in this moment his nobility felt like both a curse and a blessing.


	7. I would say I feel bad for Watari as a former third wheel but it doesn’t seem that bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sup guys, I finished this two days ago and forgot to post, so sorry about that. Updates may start slowing down, maybe like five to ten days between updates, because guess what, school. Not fun. Tho math is my only core class this semester other than history, so I probably won’t have much trouble (when you have Band and Jrotc as your other classes for the semester you get like no homework). American history should be pretty easy (I’m a history buff) and math is math (I’m good at math, specifically geometry, I am a beast). So I’ll try to keep update times consistent but that probably won’t happen cause I’m stupid and write in very intense bursts at random times, sometimes I write like 2000 words in a day and other times I just write like 50.

“For the last time Shigeru, your outfit looks fine.” Watari was so tired, so very tired, and they hadn’t even left the manor yet. He could tell that today was going to be a long day.

“But-“ Watari shushed him almost immediately.

“No buts, you look fine, why does it even matter, we’re just going to go see a show with Kentarou. Dressing like a peasant isn’t that hard. I don’t know why you’re making a fuss about it” Watari sighed. “We’ve all been hanging out since we were young kids, I don’t know what is making you so,” He paused. “weird about it. Would you like to share?” 

“I, I don’t really know, like I just, I don’t know.” Shigeru kept his eyes on the ground. 

“Sometimes I really don’t get you man. Well, either way we’re leaving soon so just make sure you’re dressed simple enough not to be recognized as a noble.” Watari left the room, and effectively left Shigeru to his thoughts, never a good idea.

Shigeru of course was overcome with nervous musings about his outfit, his demeanor, and everything else imaginable. Simply put, he was panicking. 

What if he looked too dressed up, what if he looked too casual, what did people even wear to the colosseum? He was not having fun. 

Eventually he just settled on a basic white tunic and some light brown pants. Shigeru slipped on his pair of white leather boots and then exited his room. 

After an excruciatingly silent walk to the edge of the estate Shigeru finally met up with Watari once again. 

“Alright, you ready to go? Do you have your dragon jewel?” 

“Yes, mom.” Watari started snickering and then laughing.

“Haha, ok son.” At this point both Shigeru and Watari were breaking into hysterics. After a while they both ran out of breath and started to stop themselves.

“Ok, so where exactly are we going to meet Kentarou at? I assume you worked with his retainers to plan everything out, right?” Watari nodded.

“Yes, Tooru should be waiting with Kentarou outside of the south side of the colosseum, so we’re gonna walk over there.” 

Once they had excited the manor’s front gate the two boys began to sprint down the populated street. Speeding past colorful stands and shops, avoiding people as they went. 

The capital city was especially bright today, even the scale like tiles of the road were shimmering. The clean white marble that made up the city's buildings stood in stark contrast to the black stone manor Shigeru hailed from. Every time Shigeru entered Dragavelt he was met with the same awe at just how beautiful the city was, and today was no exception. While he would have liked to stick around and simply gaze at the sights of the city he didn’t have time for that.

After running for a little while longer Watari and Shigeru finally met up with Tooru and Kentarou, though they were both out of breath and kind of rethinking this whole running thing. Maybe running all the way from the manor to the colosseum wasn’t such a good idea.

“Took you guys long enough to get here.” 

“Haaa, haaa, Kentarou, your palace isn’t that far from the colosseum so I don’t wanna hear it.” Despite being out of breath Shigeru still found the energy to argue with Kentarou.

“Well either way I’ll be taking my leave. Don't get into any trouble mad dog.” Tooru walked a few steps away before turning around once more. “If he acts up at all feel free to tell me Watari, you seem responsible.” Shigeru almost started laughing.

“So now that Tooru is gone, how about we head inside, we wouldn’t want to miss the show. I heard they’ll be showing a live execution today.” The three boys walked through one of the stone arches and entered the lobby area of the colosseum. The black stone of the inner walls was only lit by the sunlight streaming through the archways and the decadent chandeliers overhead. 

Shigeru’s boots clicked on the stone floor beneath him as he and his friends walked through the lobby. After a little more walking they finally reached the stairway leading to the commoner seating area.

“Your highness.” Shigeru motioned towards the stairs and did a large fake bow while smirking up at Kentarou. All three boys began snickering. 

They ascended the steps with haste, once they reached the top they were met with the blinding light of the sun in the clear blue sky. It truly was a perfect day. 

Well for them at least, for the witch trapped in a moldy cell waiting to be killed in front of thousands for their entertainment it wasn’t.

Alone in a dark cell, confined with only his thoughts and the few wisps around him as company, Issei was not having a good day. While he would consider himself familiar with death, this was taking it to whole new meaning. 

“You must be Issei Matsukawa.” A man with swoopy brown hair approached his cell.

“What are you here for? Mocking me? Or putting me out of my misery early? I hope it’s the latter.” The man grimaced at Issei’s cynicism. 

“Obviously not, I wouldn’t have even spoken to you if it was the latter. I’m here to make a deal with you. I am Tooru Oikawa, revered retainer of the prince and esteemed confidant of the queen. My lady has a proposition for you.” This piqued Issei’s interest, what use did the queen have for random witches? 

“Continue.” Tooru’s neutral face shifted into one donning a fake smile and calculating eyes. Maybe getting involved in whatever scheme he was about to be dragged into wasn’t such a good idea.

“I will ensure your survival at today’s show, and in exchange you will join me and a few others in our complete loyalty to the queen. We have formed a group composed of witches and witch sympathizers. We intend to cause a civil war to shift the flow of power in Dravestaria. If you do not have the willpower to go through with our plans then do not join.” Issei knew his answer as soon as he heard that his survival was assured, there was no doubt in his mind. If following Tooru meant survival then he would do it. 

“I’ll join.” Tooru smirked. 

“Wonderful, and don’t worry about this while execution mess. Even if they have you fighting hunters or something or if they use dragon jewels to ward off your magic I’ll still be able to come get you. I can promise you that your life is in good hands.” Tooru disappeared in a split second. Issei almost questioned if he had been there at all. Maybe he really was going mad from being down here, inhaling a bunch of mold could probably cause hallucinations. 

Up above on the surface, the show was only just beginning, and Shigeru was hyped. The show runner had emerged and had begun describing everything that they would see in the show, from a live execution, to bear pulled chariot races, to gladiatorial point fighting.

Once the show runner disappeared back into the lower level of the colosseum the show began. 

Majestic dancers and an older man appeared almost out of thin air. Covered in a thick fog with glowing stones and paint adorning their bodies, they began to dance, while the older man cleared his throat.

“I come to all of you with a tale, one of a valiant hero and the witch who she slayed.” The old man walked back into the colosseum, a pair of women dressed in intricate costumes walked out to take his place. 

Then as if out of nowhere the old man's voice rang clearly from thin air. 

“In the ancient kingdom, back in the days before Dragavelt was even founded, there were two cities, one of devious witches, and one of valiant dragons. The draconic city was plagued with famine and death, while the witch city prospered.” Shigeru and Watari recognized this tale from the history scrolls in the manor library. The tale of unification, the founding of the city of Dragavelt. 

“As our people were starving, a brave knight emerged from the minor house of Kyoutani. A woman who still remains unnamed. She ventured into the treacherous city of witches and encountered a fair maiden.” A woman with light brown hair in a purple dress emerged from the colosseum. 

“Princess Yahaba, the fiancé of the old regime's prince. A lady whose beauty pervades to this day in the Yahaba family. She had been captured by the city of witches and had been cursed to wield a powerful magic. The very land around her decayed if she willed it.” Fake smoke billowed from under the princess’s dress. 

“The witch who had cursed the fair maiden was the current leader of the city, a woman with vast amounts of magical prowess, with the ability to change the memories of those around her. She had tricked the princess into believing that she had always been a witch.” The audience gasped. 

“So lady Kyoutani rescued her and sealed her magic within the first dragon jewel, then she stormed into the witches palace and their legendary battle began.” Fog suddenly filled the arena again. The lady who was playing the witch doused her hands in glowing paint and then grabbed the ornamental spear that had been provided to her. 

“On guard fowl dragon!” She charged forward at the other woman, and the two began exchanging blows. The witch drove the knight back with blinding speed. Piercing strikes in a flurry keeping the knight from doing anything but helplessly defending herself. Kentarou seemed especially interested now that the action had begun. The look of wonder on his face was only compounded by wide ness of his usually narrow eyes.

As if from the air itself the princess jumped into the fray, shielding the knight from further harm. 

“Mother, stop it!” Now that really shook the audience. An audible gasp left almost everyone in the colosseum. “This is the woman I love, please, let her leave with her life, I’ll stay here I promise.” There was a murmur of excitement from the audience. 

“No, princess! I will not allow myself to leave you here. I will not fail the king.” 

“You must, it is for the greater good. You must remain alive, we will meet again one day, and on that day you will free me.” The fog grew thicker and thicker until the colosseum was dead silent. 

Once the fog had cleared nothing was left, except for the old man. 

“How was the story everyone?” The entire audience erupted into raucous applause. “Well, you’ll all be elated to know that the story will continue after a few more shows, so stay ready, for the dramatic middle and conclusion later in the day.” Then the old man disappeared.

A few moments later a group of workers with buckets of white paint started to make lines all around the arena, eventually forming what looked like a racing track. Then Shigeru heard the bears. 

The bears were adorned in finely crafted leather harnesses and were attached to small chariots. The racers began to line up and the entire crowd was pumped. 

“Racers! You all know the rules.” The announcer's booming voice rang out into the colosseum. “First man to cross the finish line three times is the winner, you may use any weapon that you manage to grab during the race. If a person is knocked off their chariot they are out. Now then, on the sounding of the trumpets you may go!”

The entire arena was silent, a slight murmur of anticipation was slowly spreading throughout. Watari was among those who where extremely excited. Then the trumpets sounded. The roaring fanfare played, then the bears roared, and then crowd began to roar as well.

“Go!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have any suggestions or ideas you might like to see in further chapters please let me know in the comments. I will absolutely see about adding them, like if you have scene ideas or concepts that you think would be cool in this fantasy world just let me know. Also, all feedback is appreciated, if a specific part of a chapter feels slow or boring I want to know, it helps me make future chapters more enjoyable for you guys. Thank you for reading.


	8. Oh boy, long chapter, more colosseum stuff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry this one took a while, I had a lot of school work. We’re less than a week back and they’re already loading is with work. I’ve figured out most of the plot for this fic, I’ve also divided it into around seven arcs, this chapter marks the end of the second one. I say around seven arcs because I’m keeping it flexible as more ideas pop up in my mind. I hope you guys are ready for a ride, I’m not gonna say a wild ride or a good ride but it will be, a ride, I can guarantee that. Enjoy :)

The bears began running, speeding along the track and almost tackling each other in the process. Swiping at one another and biting the closest chariot rider or bear next to them. 

One chariot, donning cyan for it’s banner color, sped far infront of the mob of bears and chariots behind him. He had already grabbed a sling from the weapons that were laid out on the ground around the inner walls of the colosseum. 

The audience was cheering wildly. Even Watari got involved with the roaring crowd. So Shigeru and Kentarou decided to join in the merriment as well. 

Another chariot racer, this one with purple banners, sped up behind him. Freeing himself from the mob as well. Brandishing a trident and obviously having some measure of skill he jammed it into the wheels of his opponent effectively making him spin off course.

By using the sling he had grabbed earlier he steered his bear back on course by disregarding the chariot entirely. Instead opting to simply ride his bear. Of course the chariot was still attached but now all he needed to do was dislodge the spear. 

The entire crowd was roaring.

After dislodging the trident he moved on to a more pressing matter, dealing with the other chariot riders. In his haste to remount his chariot he lost the trident so that was out of the picture now but the sling wasn’t.

Using his sling he scooped up a nearby rock and flung it back into the mob, knocking out two riders in the process. Their bodies both hitting the ground in quick succession. Both getting trampled by the mob around them.

Shigeru couldn’t help but grimace at the deafening sound of their bones cracking but thus was the nature of the colosseum. Blood sport is and always will be extremely popular with the masses, it even rivals the theater. Though being raised as a sheltered nobleman despite his families witch hunting nature didn’t help with Shigeru’s queasiness on the subject. Something about the sound of bone being cracked and crushed really got to him. 

The racers kept moving forward, trampling the fallen among them, and making the crowd go wild. Roaring cheers calling for more and more blood shed. More, and more, and even more. Their hunger for blood really couldn’t be quenched, even as more racers were thrown from their chariots, then trampled or eaten by the bears of their opponents. 

By the time lap three rolled around only the two racers from the begining were left, each doing their absolute best to please the crowd whilst eliminating their opponent. 

The one with purple banners was weaponless, while the one with cyan banners still bore his sling. 

Another rock was flung, and this time it was dodged. The skill of the purple bannered chariot driver was obvious. He was deftly avoiding any rock tossed his way. Though the same couldn’t be said for his wheels, they were seemingly being hit almost every time. 

To Shigeru this strategy made logical sense but there were quite a few draw backs. While using your resources to destroy your opponents chariot instead of your opponent can be better in the long run, it takes much more energy and attention than just chucking a rock into a crowd of racers. Because of the loss of attention you may not notice the bears which are still running behind you. 

The man with the cyan banners was overtaken by the many chariot-less bears surging behind him.

The race ended with only one survivor, and a massive bloody pile of dead bears, dead people, and broken chariots, and the crowd absolutely loved it. 

Well most of the crowd, most of the nobles in the crowd, Shigeru included, seemed kind of grossed out by what they would consider a barbaric display. Watari seemed unbothered, as did Kentarou.

It only took a few moments for the fog used previously to flow back into the arena, clouding whatever was going on from view.

Then, from within the fog three figures emerged once more, and the booming voice of the old man returned. The fog dissipated within a moment. 

“Our story continues once more,” As the old man paused in his speech the crowd went silent with anticipation. “After a tiring battle with the witch queen of the wretched city and the intervening of princess Yahaba, lady Kyoutani left the city with her life, though her body had left the city her mind remained. All of her thoughts constantly drifted back to it, with more and more elaborate plans for daring rescues and bloodless conquests. Upon further council with other knights she learned of two legendary spears, one of which warded all magical attacks. So she decided to seek them out. After a long and arduous journey she reached the frost bitten glen which housed the spears. Two crescent headed spears were stuck in a stone pillar. One dark as the night sky and shining like the stars, and the other blue as the clear noon sky. Not knowing which to pick she took both.” The knight grabbed two brightly colored spears and walked toward the princess.

“Fair maiden, I know that you told me to leave once before but I have brought something that I believe will allow us to slay the witch.” The knight handed the dark spear to the princess. 

“It’s quite light for a spear of its size, but I have to wonder what brought you to the conclusion that two spears could best my mother in combat?”

“Yes, one of them wards all magic, the other, well I don’t know what it does. Though I don’t know which one actually wards off magic, so I figured that I’d just give one to you and we’ll find out later.” The princess nodded along to her companions' reasoning. Though the reasoning seemed completely asinine to Shigeru, if the princess is capable of doing magic wouldn’t she know if the spear had magic warding properties, in a similar way to dragon jewels, they weaken most magic around them including the users if they were unlucky enough to be born with such a curse. 

Then the witch approached the two girls.

“Ahh, lady Kyoutani, you’ve returned to try and take my daughter and destroy my city.” The witch's laugh was cold, almost as cold as Tooru’s. “Well, I’ve finally grasped just how idiotic you knights are, you leave with your life but your pride becomes wounded, so you come back to try and reclaim it, trust me, it’s stupid. If you leave right now I will spare you, if not I will not hesitate to remove your head from your neck.” The knight stood tall and faced her opponent.

“Never!” The knight charged at the witch with all her might, spear in hand, and eyes focused. As she was charging the witch eclipsed herself from view with a smoke bomb. Leaving the knight to wheeze and cough within the cloud as she emerged with two gilded spears. 

“I warned you!” All but flying forward, the witch began her assault on the knight. With a flurry of strikes from her two spears she pushed the knight further back with every second. 

Noticing how much ground the knight was losing, the princess jumped into the fray with the dark spear. Shielding the knight and driving her mother back. 

Rushing forward on her own, the princess began to launch her own assault. Mirroring her mother by using a flurry as well. 

Though the witch was obviously prepared to counter this, seeing as it was how she had been fighting for years. With a long sweep of her two spears she knocked her daughter back right into the very knight she was trying to protect.

The knight stood up as fast as she could and helped the princess to her feet. Both had a similar plan in mind. Well if charging in at the same time can be considered a plan. 

Though this “plan” was almost immediately thwarted when the witch rushed the two girls instead. The girls darted away from the witch in opposite directions, both ending up on either side of the witch. 

Whilst dodging they nodded to one another, and upon the princesses que, they rushed at the witch simultaneously. 

Right as their unified strike was about to be delivered another smoke bomb went off, this one filled with white smoke, obscuring what was occurring from view.

When the smoke cleared the witch was gone and the two girls stood facing one another looking happy as could be.

“And so Princess Yahaba and Lady Kyoutani defeated the witch and destroyed the wretched city. Due to Lady Kyoutani’s act of heroism the public opted to make her the queen of the new unified kingdom, and her blood still runs in the veins of every monarch. As for princess Yahaba, she was awarded the title of witch hunter general. Her family is now the second most powerful in the empire due to their closeness with the royal family. And as all good tales do, this one has come to its end.” The two girls waved to the audience and the witch returned to wave as well. Giving a final bow to the audience to raucous applause before exiting the arena. 

Another announcer began to speak once the crowd quieted. 

“Next up, for your viewing pleasure, a demonstration by young lord Hanamaki. He shall be point sparring with an up and coming gladiator. This shall be his warm up match before the execution.”

A pink haired man who looked around Tooru or Hajime’s age walked into the arena. Another young man followed him. 

They both walked to the weapon rack and picked up their respective weapons. Takahiro picked up a trident, while his opponent grabbed a flail with an unusually long chain and a small circular shield. 

The two opponents took their places on the opposite ends of the arena, each fighter assuming their preferred stance, Takahiro using the preferred stance of knights, knees bent, hips facing his opponent, and spear head, or in this case trident prongs, facing his opponent at eye level. While the young gladiator positioned himself with his shield facing Takahiro and his weapon drawn back, readying himself for any and all attacks from his opponent. 

A judge walked out into the arena and stood on a platform on the wall. 

“You should both know the rules but I shall go over them anyways. No hits directly to the head. No shots to vital areas of the body, such as organs. No shots to the nether region. Weapons with points are to be used for their blunt ends and for driving away opponents, not piercing. If you are disarmed you may use your bare fists or feet to score points. The first to five points wins. If I call a point you must retreat. You cannot argue with my calls. If any rule is violated a penalty will be inflicted.” The judge looked at both fighters. “Do you both understand.” 

“Yes sir.” 

“Ok, three, two one, go!” 

Takahiro rushed forward to meet his opponent's defenses, maneuvering his way around the shield on his arm and into striking range.

His opponent reacted almost immediately by cracking his flail. Both fighters were hit at exactly the same time.

“Point, 1 to 1! Return to your original positions.”

“Go!” 

This time Takahiro didn’t immediately rush in. He opted to sit back and make his opponent come to him. By opening his stance and making himself look like an easy target, he would lure the other fighter.

His opponent didn’t take the bait, he began circling Takahiro looking for an actual opening instead. This was quite annoying to Takahiro, so he rushed toward his opponent.

His trident hit the shield with a deafening clang, and shortly after the flail came down upon his back. 

“Point, 2 to 1! Return to your positions.” 

Takahiro strode back to his end of the arena with a plan in mind, though it would have to wait for a little while. His opponent’s guard would have to be lowered before he could enact it. 

“Go!”

Both fighters rushed forward, Takahiro landing a blunt strike to his opponent’s stomach, while his opponent landed a blow with his flail to Takahiro’s chest. 

“Point, 3 to 2! Return to your positions.” 

Takahiro’s opponent looked confident, like he knew victory was almost assured. This was exactly what Takahiro had wanted. His plan could go into full effect. Though it would have been more opportune if he had been able to use when the score was four to four but we don’t always get what we want. 

His opponent rushed toward him and promptly began circling Takahiro, scanning for openings but Takahiro was one step ahead.

When his opponent charged Takahiro caught his flail between the prongs of his trident and pried it from his opponent’s grasp. Effectively leaving his opponent weaponless. By using his trident’s superior reach he scored another point.

“Point, 3 to 3! Return to your positions!” 

Both fighters returned to their positions with a plan in mind. After being disarmed in the previous round Takahiro’s opponent wanted to try something.

“Go!”

Both fighters rushed in once more, immediately circling each other. Takahiro tried the same trick once more but was thwarted when his opponent kept his flail out of grabbing range. 

Though his first plan failed he had anticipated this and instead went in for a swift strike while his opponent was distracted. 

“Point, 3 to 4! Match point, return to your positions.” 

Takahiro walked back to his side of the arena with immense confidence. He had a new plan. Baiting his opponent into disarming him and then striking with his bare fists. It was risky but he has a point of leeway anyways so he may as well try.

“Go!”

Instead of rushing in immediately Takahiro and his opponent both stayed back, analyzing each other from a safe distance. 

Once his opponent looked ready to strike Takahiro charged to bait him into an attack. It was painfully obvious from the look in his opponent’s eyes what exactly he was about to try.

With a slash of his flail Takahiro’s opponent yanked his trident away and forced Takahiro to fight barehanded but he didn’t notice the glint in Takahiro’s eyes.

As he was being disarmed Takahiro purposefully let go of his weapon to rush his opponent and land a solid punch to the gut.

“Point, 3 to 5! Lord Hanamaki is the winner.” The whole crowd erupted. Kentarou and Shigeru were mesmerized. Honestly it wasn’t much of a surprise to Watari to see their eyes so widened and star filled, he had always noticed their weird passion for sparing, they bet their whole friendship on it, so this was simply a natural escalation.

“Now that the execution match has concluded our special event shall now take place. A few weeks ago the prestigious young witch hunter Akira Kunimi of the minor noble house of Kunimi tracked down a dangerous witch. He is to be executed shortly by nine other than today’s champion. Once the lower gates open and release the witch the execution shall commence.” 

The entire crowd was roaring with anticipation. 

The lower gates opened and Issei Matsukawa slowly stalked his way into the arena, clearly he didn’t want to be here. He knew death was about to be upon him and all he could do was brace for the inevitable. So he walked to the center of the arena, eyes shut, mind fogged. He was hoping for Tooru to appear, he would appear any minute now. Though Issei was starting to doubt it. 

Once he reached the center he took a deep breath and opened his eyes, what he saw shocked him.

He locked eyes with Takahiro Hanamaki, his best friend and executioner. Takahiro looked just as shocked, if not mortified, so shocked in fact that his trident almost fell from his hands. After a few moments of silence Takahiro approached him.

Slow and unsteady, Takahiro walked toward Issei. Takahiro placed his hand over Issei’s shoulder. 

“I’m sorry.” 

Takahiro backed up and raised his weapon, his hesitation clear as day, and then brought his weapon down.

Just as the trident began to graze Issei’s hair a hand appeared and pulled Issei back and then transported him away just as suddenly. 

Takahiro had seen him, Tooru Oikawa, he was the person who had made Issei disappear. He had only seen him for a second but now Takahiro was sure Tooru had been the one. 

The crowd was silent, a witch had escaped.


	9. Homiesexual tea party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, a lot of the chapters from here on out are gonna be shorter than my average, mostly cause I’ve got a lot of work, and also for story structure reasons. (I say chapters will be shorter and then I’m gonna accidentally write another super long one)

“So, uhh, lord Hanamaki, how have you been as of late.” Honestly Shigeru was dying inside, this has to be the most awkward tea party he had ever been to. Lady Kyoutani had said it would be a wonderful idea to have both him and Kentarou meet with other young lords with high standings in the court, so she set up this tea party. 

Of course she had to set it up in Kentarou’s private quarters but Shigeru was just thankful that it wasn’t in his room proper, they were in his sunroom. Though that still didn’t help the awkward feeling.

“Pretty good, other than the incident at the colosseum a few months ago I’ve been doing good. There has been no illness within my family and I’m set to take over my family's estate in a few years if all goes well. So, Prince Kyoutani, it really seems like you’re interested in gardening, am I correct.” 

“Yes.” 

“I figured as much, the abundance of rare plants and hard to cultivate plants in this sunroom give that away. So if I may ask, where did you get your blue orchids, they aren’t native to this area or even the southern half of the continent and transporting them all the way from Veilahir in the far north is nearly impossible, so how did you come to possess them?” 

“My family took a trip up there a few years ago and I found some on the way back and took some clippings, so I’m currently cultivating them here to try and make a variety that can survive higher temperatures.” At this point Shigeru was kind of feeling left out of the conversation but at the same time he was also thankful that he was being spared from any awkward interactions. 

“Well, Prince Kyoutani, once you do cultivate one may I have a few clippings, I have a collection of rare custom bred plants, a friend of mine used to enjoy napping in my family's estate garden so it became a hobby of mine. Actually, Prince Kyoutani, both of your retainers are childhood friends of mine, as is obvious we don’t hang out now. Also if I may, how did you get into cultivating plants, if you don’t want to say it’s fine, I won’t pry.” Kentarou looked at Takahiro for a moment, as if he was choosing his words carefully. 

“I used to play in the woods as a child quite frequently, and I came to enjoy having plants around me. Also, which one of my retainers liked to nap in your family gardens, I doubt Sir Iwaizumi would ever do that even as a kid, so was it Sir Oikawa?” Takahiro slowly shook his head with an ever present smirk adorning his face.

“No, it was a different friend, though Sir Oikawa and Sir Iwaizumi never met him they probably would have been good friends. Back to the topic at hand, plants really are wonderful, what do you think of plants Lord Yahaba?” Shigeru was not prepared to rejoin the conversation, in fact he had been staring off into space for quite a while. 

“Uhh, they’re fine.” And it was back to being ignored for a while, at least that was what Shigeru wanted to occur but alas, the universe wasn’t feeling very generous. 

“So, your family is full of renowned witch hunters, tell me, have you ever hunted a witch yourself Lord Yahaba?” 

“No, I can’t say that I have.” Takahiro smirked.

“What is your opinion on them? Witches I mean.” That was a question Shigeru really wasn’t prepared for. He had never really given much thought to them, well other than hunting them that is but if he were to have an opinion it might be negative. Though he had never met one himself, and most of the writings at home just treated them like monsters from children’s fairy tales but that obviously didn’t hold up, the witch at the arena was living proof, a fairy tale monster wouldn’t have walked to their own execution without trying to run or kill someone. 

“I, I don’t really know, I’ve never met a witch but if I were to meet one it would probably be when hunting one so I guess I would say I don’t like them.” Takahiro’s smirk dropped slightly, but soon came back in full force.

“So, word around the court is young Lord Kunimi has a girlfriend but I doubt it, if anything he and his gardener are probably having some childish romance.” Takahiro’s narrow eyed gaze turned to meet Kentarou.

“Why are you looking at me? I don’t have very much interest in court drama, let alone the romantic interests of two twelve year olds, noble or otherwise. If anything Shigeru would be more interested but I doubt it, he’s more into actual politics than court drama.” Both Kentarou and Takahiro turned to look at Shigeru, as if they were waiting for his input on the matter.

“Well, it’s not really of that much interest to me but now that we’re on the topic of the Kunimi family, I have to wonder why they would send a twelve year old after a witch in the first place. Last month at the colosseum they said that young Lord Kunimi was the one who captured the witch who was set to be executed. Witches are dangerous, I don’t see why they would ever send a twelve year old, my mother wouldn’t even send me and I’m a Yahaba.” After a moment of silence Kentarou sighed.

“They probably want to make a name for their family among the court.” Both Shigeru and Takahiro looked at Kentarou. Takahiro’s cat-like grin became even wider.

“Wow, I thought you weren’t interested in politics, your highness.” 

“Well, I still have to study it, so I’ll know enough about it when I’m king to navigate the court.” The table went silent, not from shock or amazement but from awkwardness. Shigeru, wanting to end the unbearable silence decided to start a new conversation.

“Lord Hanamaki, I’ve wondered about this for a while, during the exhibition match you used a handful of quite interesting techniques, I want to know where you learned them, and if you’d be willing to show me a couple of them. I’m always looking for a way to get an edge over Prince Kyoutani when we spar.” Kentarou had half a mind to challenge Shigeru to another sparring match at the tea table but he controlled himself, there was always time later. 

“Actually, I think that’d be a wonderful use of our time today, if you’d permit it your majesty.” 

“As long as I get to learn the same techniques as Shigeru. I mean Lord Yahaba.” Takahiro smirked again, despite only meeting both these people in person a few hours ago, he could already tell that their bond ran much deeper than he was led to believe, and that fact was extremely amusing to him. Feeding into their childish rivalry would prove to be quite entertaining for him. 

“Great, would you lead us to the training grounds Prince Kyoutani?” Kentarou excitedly nodded to Takahiro and then burst out of his chair, followed closely by Shigeru. Yeah, Takahiro had made up his mind, this was going to be extremely fun to watch unfold.

The two younger boys sped through the castle halls ahead of Takahiro, only looking back to see if he was still following. Of course he still was, he was taller than both the thirteen year olds so it made keeping up with them quite easy. 

After quite a bit of running, or light jogging for Takahiro, they reached one of the castle's many courtyards, or in this case, an easy shortcut to the indoor training grounds. The area along the castle walls surrounding the courtyard, were covered and had detailed stone arches and columns on the edge, obscuring the delicate plant life that lay behind them from view.

Though they did nothing to hide a meeting that was currently taking place in the center of the courtyard. While Shigeru and Kentarou were none the wiser due to the speed at which they were racing one another, Takahiro saw exactly what was occurring.

A single, circular table with three chairs and three occupants. Lady Kyoutani, which wasn’t much of a surprise to Takahiro, he had heard of her love of plants from court rumors, Tooru, who was more of a surprise to Takahiro, because, to name one of many reasons, the fact that he had helped Issei escape at the colosseum, and to Takahiro’s utter shock, Issei himself. Alive, breathing, unhurt, and Takahiro had never been more happy about something in his life. 

It seemed as if time had stopped for a moment, as Takahiro locked eyes with Issei, and then with a very unhappy looking Tooru. As was now evident to Takahiro, this meeting was most likely not supposed to have any witnesses, especially not him. 

And so, Takahiro kept running to catch up with the younger boys, and to avoid whatever confrontation was about to occur between him and Tooru. 

Two loud slapping sounds could be heard as Shigeru and Kentarou reached the door. Each had a hand on the wooden double doors

“First!” Both boys yelled simultaneously before looking at the other in shock. Shigeru opened his mouth to speak once more. 

“No, I was first, you got here like a second after me.” Now this, truly was the definition of entertainment to Takahiro, it was time to sit back, or in this case stand back, and watch the show, while ignoring the possibility of an angry Tooru storming up to him and most likely stabbing him or something.

“No, I was clearly here first, your princeliness.” Shigeru smirked as if he had just come up with the greatest insult of all time, despite the fact that all the evidence suggested otherwise. Then Kentarou smirked.

“Ok, princess.” Shigeru’s brain stopped working. Whether it was from rage or embarrassment, not even he knew. His cheeks turned red for both emotions, so not even Kentarou could tell which it was. 

“I, I, what?” Shigeru couldn’t really form a coherent thought at the moment. Kentarou just smirked at him and entered the training grounds. 

At this point Shigeru had regained his bearings and was almost fuming. 

Inside the training grounds Watari and Hajime were already doing lance drills, and working on form. Shigeru visibly relaxed at the sight of his retainer, and the subsequent wave that Watari sent him really calmed him down. He had almost forgotten what he was angry about.

Almost, that weird insult, was it even an insult? Still weighed heavily on his mind. Though he was inclined to put off thinking about it now, in favor of learning new techniques from Takahiro.


	10. Kentucky Fried Confusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small warning for a dead bird at the end of the chapter. It isn’t killed in the chapter and I made sure to not describe it graphically. So just stop at “Takahiro had never thrown” and pick back up at “Issei opened his hands” if it makes you uncomfy. Other than that, sorry this took a while to come out, schools been annoying, and I’ve been procrastinating. So have fun with this slightly longer than average chapter, I hope you guys enjoy. :)

“And this, is what I call, decking another human being during a weapon spar.” Takahiro smirked at his new students. “Now then, run those drills for a little while. Once I deem both of you ready, I’ll teach you another technique.” Kentarou and Shigeru started to run over the disarming drill, while Takahiro looked around to make sure Tooru wasn’t about to stab him.

He had spotted Tooru marching around the edge of the training grounds with Lady Kyoutani and Issei while he was teaching, so he was already on high alert.

Takahiro wanted to speak to Issei, he really wanted to see his best friend but as long as Tooru and the queen were around he doubted that would happen. 

Though, to Takahiro, it seemed as if Issei really wasn’t keeping up with the pair of conspirators, almost purposefully. So, Takahiro concocted a plan, he would find the nearest dark corridor or corner within the castle and just pull Issei into it.

Honestly, it wasn’t a very good plan but it was all Takahiro could think of at the moment so it was what he was going to do. 

After watching his newly acquired students try and fail to complete the drill a couple more times Takahiro decided to intervene.

“Ok, so both of you are making separate mistakes, and it’s mostly my fault for not correcting them earlier. First, lord Yahaba, your strikes lack power, it seems like you’re so focused on the form that you’re forgetting to put any power into your strikes. It makes it almost impossible to do the drill effectively. Now then, Prince Kyoutani, you need to use less power for now, you’re so focused on going really fast and going full power right off the bat that you forget important parts of the form, you need to pace yourself. Practice the drill slowly first, have Shigeru instruct you on the form, and then you can teach him how to put more power into it. I’ll be watching.” As Shigeru and Kentarou began their training once more, Takahiro slinked off to enact his plan. Though Shigeru and Kentarou didn’t notice, they were too focused bickering.

“So, princess, you need to strike at me first.” 

“Call me princess one more time and I swear to the high dragon I’ll absolutely beat the everloving wisps out of you Ken.” Kentarou didn’t seem even slightly scared by Shigeru’s threat.

“Ok princess.” Shigeru was quite literally turning red from rage, and Kentarou was donning a small smirk. Shigeru looked like he was about to explode. Watari seemed to notice this and put his hand on Shigeru’s shoulder. His shoulders almost immediately relaxed and he breathed out a long sigh. 

“Ready?” Kentarou locked eyes with him and then nodded. 

Shigeru launched a regular strike, a single stabbing motion toward Kentarou. Kentarou moved at the same time, stepping outwards with his left foot to dodge the strike, while at the same time jamming the dulled blade of his training spear into Shigeru’s hand to force him to drop his spear. 

Though it didn’t exactly work, all Kentarou ended up doing was jamming Shigeru’s hand for a few minutes. Shigeru, not being one to complain about his pain in front of anyone other than Watari simply kept it to himself. Though Kentarou noticed anyway because Shigeru was still very obvious. The grimace present on his face after the drill was completed gave it away. 

“Hey, do you need to go to the castle infirmary? I can, uh, walk you down there.” Shigeru shook his head. 

“No, I’m fine, let’s get back to work.” Shigeru moved to grab his discarded training spear but as soon as his the area between his thumb and pointer finger made contact with the spear he yelped out in pain. “Ok, maybe I do need to go to the infirmary.” Kentarou nodded.

“I'll take you down there. Oh, and uh, do we need to let Watari know where we’re going?” 

“Do you need to let Hajime and Tooru know where you’re going?” Kentarou paused for a moment and then shook his head.

“No, so it’s probably fine if we just go on our own.” Takahiro noticed the two boys exciting the training grounds, and then he knew this was his moment. No distractions, and no responsibilities, he could enact his plan. He would finally get to talk to Issei. 

Takahiro noticed Tooru and Lady Kyoutani getting up from the benches they had previously been sitting on. Once they had gotten up Issei was quick to follow, though noticeably further behind his two companions. This was Takahiro’s opportunity. 

Donning a smirk for only a moment and then swiftly following.

As the small group exited the training grounds Takahiro slipped out silently behind them. 

Following quietly through the slightly dimmed halls Takahiro waited for his opening. It really seemed to him that Issei really wasn’t involved in whatever the queen and Tooru were discussing, and that was to his advantage. Issei was simply observing his surroundings as he was led through the castle. 

Once the group made their way to a turn in the hallway Takahiro knew his moment had arrived. 

He crept behind Issei and then grabbed him in a bear hug. Issei almost screamed but when he saw the face of his assailant he just let out a relieved sigh.

“Hey Maki.” Issei’s almost monotonous voice was like music to Takahiro’s ears.

“I would say long time no see but uhh, I assume you remember last month.” Issei, to Takahiro’s surprise, smirked at his remark, honestly he wasn’t expecting such a positive reaction this early on but it was a welcome surprise.

“Well it’s good to see you anyways, having to sit in on Tooru and Lady Kyoutani’s discussions is like being in another world, I have no idea what’s going on, and it’s super awkward. I’m not gonna tell you what we were discussing if that’s why you decided to bear hug me, cause I’d like to keep my head intact and on my neck.” Both Issei and Takahiro heard footsteps approaching from the direction that Tooru and Lady Kyoutani had been walking in. The footsteps weren’t light enough to be Lady Kyoutani and they made a metallic clanking noise instead of a clicking noise which meant that it was most likely a guard or in the worst case scenario Tooru himself.

So Takahiro was panicking, and Issei picking up on his panicking began to panic as well.

When the figure turned the corner Issei was slightly relieved that it was Tooru, and Takahiro was already starting to sprint back to the training grounds. 

Though his sprinting was cut short, much to Takahiro’s dismay due to Tooru appearing from thin air right in front of him. 

“I, I, before you stab me Tooru, I have a couple questions.” Tooru sighed as Issei sauntered over to the two. 

“Before you ask those questions, I would just like to say that I wouldn’t stab you.” Takahiro let out a sigh of relief. “Though I assume your questions have something to do with last month and right now?” Takahiro simply nodded. “Ok, we should move to a safer area to talk about this, Lady Kyoutani would be livid if she found out that one of my old friends leaked vital information or that someone in the castle overheard so I’m not going to take that risk. Come, we are going to Lady Kyoutani’s office.” 

Over on the other side of the castle, Shigeru was having a crisis. Kentarou was leading him to the infirmary but that in and of itself wasn’t what he was having a crisis over, no it was over how Kentarou was leading him to the infirmary. Shigeru was being led to the infirmary with his uninjured hand clasped by the prince. Honestly the pain in his other hand was dwarfed by the immense amount of embarrassment Shigeru was feeling at the current moment. 

To Shigeru at least, it seemed like Kentarou didn’t even notice how weird it was that he was holding Shigeru’s hand at all. Kentarou didn’t need to do that and it was giving Shigeru a crisis. Shigeru had agreed to go to the infirmary so holding his hand wasn’t necessary, it wasn’t like he was going to run away or anything. 

Once they reached the infirmary Kentarou dropped Shigeru’s hand, and Shigeru found himself almost missing the sensation, almost, actually he absolutely missed it but he wouldn’t admit that to himself or anyone else. 

Kentarou led Shigeru over to one of the castle nurses, this time without holding his hand, and had the nurse examine Shigeru’s hand while Kentarou watched intently. 

Meanwhile, Tooru, Issei and Takahiro were already inside the queen’s office beginning their discussion. 

“So, you are a witch?” 

“Yes. For the fifth time Takahiro I am a witch. I can teleport.” Tooru was about to actually stab Takahiro if he didn’t get this information through his thick skull.

“Ok sorry, it’s just, I don’t know, kind of shocking. I mean, it’s not every day that you learn that one of your childhood friends is a witch, and that he works for the second highest authority in the land as her most trusted advisor.” 

“Apparently, now then, do you have any other questions?” 

“Yes, what is a witch doing as advisor to the queen, and what do you guys need Mattsun for?” Tooru smiled his fakest smile, and Takahiro knew what that meant immediately, he wouldn’t be getting a real answer.

“To answer your first question I’m good at my job, the queen recognizes talent, and we don’t need Issei. His powers are useful to the queen, so we saved him. Does that answer everything?” Well that didn’t help, Takahiro knew most of that already, in fact he’d only been invited to have tea with the prince because of his talent in spear fighting, well and his family title, but it was mostly the first thing. Though he was still curious about why they needed Issei’s power’s. In fact, he didn’t know about Issei’s power’s himself. He’d been there when they flared up for the first time but that had mostly just been an extreme flare of magical energy, not really a demonstration of his powers. 

“No, why do you and the queen need Issei’s powers?” Tooru’s fake smile dissipated for a moment before returning in full force. Tooru turned around and calmly walked over to one of the queens cabinets, he picked up a small black box covered in gold engravings and then handed it to Takahiro.

“Be a dear and open the box for Issei.” Now Takahiro was really confused. 

Takahiro undid the small gold latch on the front of the box and then lifted the lid, careful not to jostle whatever was inside. 

Takahiro had never thrown something so fast in his life. Inside the box was a dead blue jay. The sparrow’s blood was still fresh and Takahiro could almost feel the fading heat emanating from the bird. He was about to vomit. 

“Issei, if you would.” Issei slowly walked over to the corpse that was now lying on the ground and lifted it into his hands. He breathed in for a moment and then a green light began to envelop his hands and then the dead bird within them. 

Issei opened his hands and the newly revived bird began flying around the office. After a while it landed on Takahiro’s shoulder, when Takahiro went to pet the bird, he felt it.

The bird was cold, colder than it should have been, this bird hadn’t been revived, simply reanimated, almost like a wind up toy. Then a realization hit Takahiro, he knew what they were planning.

“You, your planning to-” Tooru smirked as he cut Takahiro off. 

“Bring the dead back to life.” Tooru paused for a moment before walking over to Takahiro and putting a hand on his unoccupied shoulder. “How about you join us? You’d be able to talk to Issei anytime you wish.” Tooru donned the biggest fake smile he could and offered his other hand for Takahiro to shake.

After a few moments of hesitation and complete silence Takahiro took Tooru’s hand. 

“Welcome to the Skeleton Coven.”


	11. Imagine being gay, but like, being gay in the woods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait guys. I had a ton of school work. So chapters may only be once a month for now but rest assured I’ll still be working on the major plot. I’ve been planning for a while and I’ve got a lot in store for you guys down the line. I’ve also been thinking about splitting this book into two or three parts. If I do that there will be bonus chapters with art and lore at the end of each part. Tho once I get enough stuff together I’ll probably give you guys a bonus chapter like that anyways, I guess it just depends on if you guys are actually interested in that kinda thing.

“The, the Skeleton Coven?”

“Yes, welcome, once Lady Kyoutani has a job for you I’ll come find you. Now then I’ll leave you and Issei alone, also pick up the box and return the bird to its place before Lady Kyoutani returns.” After gesturing to Takahiro and Issei, Tooru made a swift exit from the office. 

“Ok, so now that Tooru is gone do you wanna actually talk or like?” Takahiro stared at Issei for a moment.

“No, I need to check up on the prince and Lord Yahaba, last time I checked they were heading to the infirmary. I’m still gonna help clean up though.” Issei picked up the box as Takahiro was speaking.

“It’s fine, I’ve got this, the queen has already shown me where to put everything, and I doubt you’d be able to handle watching the bird die again, I know how you are with dead and dying animals.” Issei let the reanimated bird land on one of his fingers and calmly pet it’s wings. 

“Yeah, thanks Mattsun, talk to ya later?” Issei smirked at Takahiro.

“Anytime.” Takahiro smirked back at Issei before leaving the room. 

“Well it looks like your hand should be fine, just rest it for a few days.” The nurse calmly stated. Kentarou on the other hand was not calm, and did not look calm, in fact he looked like he was planning a murder. He just stared intensely at Shigeru’s injured hand while Shigeru looked at him with confusion evident on his face. 

Kentarou felt a festering guilt building up inside him. His brain was screaming at him, it was all his fault, he had done this, if he had been more careful this wouldn’t have happened. Though he knew that wouldn’t be the way Shigeru viewed the situation he couldn’t help but blame himself for this. Maybe it would just be better if he kept his distance for a while. 

“Ken? Uh, Ken? Can you hear me?” Kentarou snapped back to reality as Shigeru waved his uninjured hand in front of Kentarou’s face. 

“Yeah.” Shigeru smiled for a moment before returning to his neutral face, and Kentarou relaxed quite a bit after seeing that soft smile.

“Did you hear the nurse, she said I’d be fine as long as I rested my hand for a few days, why do you look so worried?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Ok, just let me know if you ever wanna talk about it, both Watari and I are always here for you, ok Ken?” Shigeru smiled once more upon saying that nickname, and Kentarou’s heart skipped a beat. He didn’t notice it at the time but this was the moment when Kentarou started to see his childhood friend a little differently.

Then Takahiro bursted into the room. 

“Hey so, is your hand ok Lord Yahaba?” 

“Yes it should be fine if I rest it for a couple of days. Also, where did you go while we were training?” 

“Oh, uhhh, Tooru wanted to talk to me.” Well it was only around half of a lie, so Takahiro didn’t really feel all that bad using it. 

“Cool, so, is there anything you think we should do to clear up the form?” Kentarou looked at Shigeru for a moment before letting out a short sigh.

“Your hand is still injured and all you can think about is practicing?” Shigeru donned a small fake smile at his friends words

“Well I’ve gotta keep practicing if I wanna remain a good match for you when we spar.” Kentarou almost laughed, almost, he wouldn’t laugh in front of Takahiro, that would be improper. Though Takahiro looked a bit worried.

“Lord Yahaba, with all due respect, do not practice until your hand is healed, you don’t wanna damage your hand. Trust me on this one, let the injury heal before you get back into drills. I’ll help you with your form then, ok?” Shigeru nodded with a smile, genuine this time. “Now then, I shall take my leave. I need to return to my family manor before sundown. Take care, thank for this time your highness and your lordship.” Once Takahiro had left the room and it seemed like he would be well out of ear shot, Shigeru began to speak.

“Hey Ken.” Shigeru smirked. Kentarou was immediately worried, nor so much worried about Shigeru as he was worried for whatever he was about to say.

“Yeah?” 

“Back when you asked me if all I can think about is practicing it seemed like you were worried for me? Huh, were you? Was the prince worried for a young lord?” Kentarou honestly wasn’t having any of Shigeru’s blatant taunting. Though getting called prince opened some fun doors when it came to comebacks. So Kentarou started smirking, and Shigeru’s smirk immediately dropped.

“Well, for your information princess, it’s normal for friends to be worried about each other.” Upon hearing the relatively new “nickname” Shigeru was almost immediately enraged but this time he let it slide. “Actually, do you wanna hang out in the woods tomorrow? We didn’t get a chance to do that after the arena show. Are you and Watari free tomorrow?” Shigeru smiled at his best friend.

“Yeah, that would be great actually. I can’t train or write so I need something to do. I’ll check with Watari if we have any audiences or special meetings with my mother.” 

Shigeru woke up early the next day and meticulously picked his way through his wardrobe, until he found an outfit he was satisfied with, not too formal and not too plain. 

After taking special care when lacing up his boots, as not to hurt his already injured hand, he exited his quarters and made his way to the forest gate on the back edge of the estate. 

Watari was already leaning against the gate waiting for his liege. 

“You ready to go?” 

“Yeah, do you have our lunches and spears Watari?” Watari nodded. 

“Yup, let's get going then, we wouldn’t want to keep his highness waiting.” Shigeru nodded to Watari and then rushed through the gate gesturing for his retainer to follow suit. 

The two boys sped through the forest, ducking under fallen trees and jumping over small streams. Watari, despite carrying two spears and a bag of food on his back, had relatively no trouble keeping up with his friend; all his training with the prince’s retainers had really paid off.

They continued to run through the forest until Shigeru grew a little tired, after that they decided to slow their pace by a small amount. Mostly because Watari was concerned about how all of this physical activity would affect Shigeru’s injury, and partly because he was also a little winded. 

Once they reached the section of the forest where the darkness began to set in they slowed their pace significantly so as to not trip over a stray root that couldn’t be seen within the darkness. 

Of course it wasn’t completely dark, with glowing flowers and mushrooms lining the trees and forest floor it was still relatively bright. The small glowing pebbles and glowing vines adorning the trunks of the trees and the roots on the ground. Though despite all the luminescent flora and pebbles it was still quite dark.

Shigeru had taken notice of this a few years back, the only change to this part of the forest that came with the seasons was the brightness. 

Once the clearing was in sight Shigeru practically sprinted to it. Once he was actually inside the clearing he dove into the soft grass and took a long deep breath, taking in the scent of the forest. It smelled like pine and something weirdly sweet but oddly familiar, though Shigeru couldn’t quite place his finger on what it reminded him of.

Though his time in the grass didn’t last long because Kentarou entered the clearing shortly after he and Watari had. Shigeru practically bolted to his feet to greet his friend. 

While Kentarou expected for Shigeru to give him an enthusiastic greeting he did not expect to be tackled by his best friend. Well tackled is a strong word, more like stumbled into by an off balance thirteen year old.

“Ow.” Kentarou’s voice could not have been more deadpanned as he cried out in mild pain. 

Shigeru bolted onto his feet even faster than before and immediately offered a hand to Kentarou to help him up.

“Sorry about that Ken.” 

“It’s fine, I’m just glad that you’re so happy to see me,” Kentarou paused and then his deadpan twisted into a smirk. Shigeru knew what this meant and was at this moment, feeling a little bit less sorry about accidentally tackling Kentarou. “princess.” 

Watari was laughing, not at the nickname but at the shade of red that Shigeru’s face had turned. Honestly Watari was really glad that they were currently in the clearing, he had wanted to laugh back in the training grounds but laughing at your liege’s expense is highly frowned upon. 

“Hey, wait, Watari, you’re supposed to be on my side.” Watari looked at his best friend for a moment and then shrugged.

“I side with whoever seems to be more entertaining at the current moment, and if that happens to be our wonderful friend Kentarou, well then, I guess I know who I’m siding with.” Kentarou just put on an innocent smile and rested his arm on Watari’s shoulder. “Well then, now that, that’s been settled,” Shigeru opened his mouth to speak but Watari cut him off. “Settled. We should play a game, how about witch hunter?” Both Kentarou and Shigeru’s eyes lit up. “Well then, it seems like you both agree with that choice so who’s gonna be the witch first?” 

“I’ll do it, I’ve always been good at evading both and it’s been a year so this’ll be a fun challenge for all of us.” With that settled Kentarou and Watari assumed their positions in the clearing and began counting. 

Now then, Shigeru was having some difficulties coming up with a strategy. Seeing as one of his hands was injured climbing would be more of a hassle than anything else so ascending into the branches above and waiting wouldn’t be a good course of action. Though there were open patches scattered throughout the dark woods and creating a false trail could prove beneficial. 

While lost in thought Shigeru almost tripped over a root. Then he noticed something, despite not tripping he had still knocked a mushroom off of its stem and this provided him with something valuable.

The mushroom was of course bioluminescent so when it was broken a glowing liquid flowed out of it and stained the ground. Shigeru immediately hatched a plan. 

First he would gather a couple of these mushrooms, of course he wouldn’t do it with his bare hands, and then coat the bottom of one of his shoes with it and create a fake trail. He could then abandon that shoe and hide near the end of the trail. Once his pursuer reached the end of the trail he could jump out and eliminate them from the game. 

Though he would need to attract the attention of only one of the other players in order for this to work. Which meant that he’d have to find them and possibly separate them if it came down to it. 

Darting between trees and taking constant cover was his best option for now, seeing as he couldn’t travel from within the trees. Then a thought struck him.

Even though he couldn’t get up into the trees his opponents could. 

As Shigeru looked up the branches above him began to rustle. His reflexes kicked in and he darted to the side as fast as possible, just barely dodging Kentarou’s attack as he flung himself from the canopy above. 

Shigeru had never ran this fast in his life, being startled and having his adrenaline spike put in combination made him much faster than usual. Despite all that Kentarou was still faster than him. 

So Shigeru started hatching a plan as he sprinted through the forest. There were small patches of brambles scattered throughout the forest and both he and Kentarou knew that. Shigeru also knew that Kentarou knew that walking or especially running through brambles was excruciatingly painful when you aren’t dressed in thick fabrics. So despite his long pants Kentarou would most likely stop before reaching the brambles and lose momentum giving Shigeru time to get away and hatch a new plan. 

Once Shigeru was finished with his plan he snapped back to reality, taking back full control of his body and scanning the area for the nearest patch of brambles. He would need to find a patch fast because Kentarou was getting closer and closer with each passing second. 

Shigeru made a sharp turn around a large tree and almost face planted in the process, though this tactic of his proved effective seeing as Kentarou also stumbled for a moment. 

Then Shigeru saw it, the bramble patch he’d been looking for. He charged at it full speed, increasing the length of his strides, and putting more force into the balls of his feet. 

Shigeru reached the edge of the thorny patch of plants and jumped as high and as far as he could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who didn’t want to read the long ass beginning notes: I’m thinking about adding bonus chapters, like a chapter or two that have illustrations, lore, and concept sketches for you guys. Please let me know if you are interested.


	12. Two bros, chilling in the woods, no feet apart cause they are gay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry this took so long, I’ve had a lot of school work and I don’t know how much more I’m gonna get but spring break is coming soon. I will not abandon this fic, I absolutely refuse to do so. I enjoyed writing this chapter. I’ve also been rethinking how I want to characterize our main boys in the future of the story and how I want to develop them. Chapters should be coming out a bit sooner than this one came out, I feel a lot more inspired to write. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Upon landing in the patch of brambles Shigeru immediately regretted all of the life choices that had led to this outcome. Despite his long pants the thorns still reached his skin. Watari was gonna be pissed and his maids were going to be even more pissed. 

Though the plan had worked, Kentarou had stopped in his tracks and was now looking around for a way to get to Shigeru’s current location, so he began climbing into the trees. Shigeru had not anticipated this. 

And so Shigeru began to move. Despite the cuts on his legs growing deeper and deeper with every step Shigeru continued forward, fueled by his hunger for victory. 

Eventually Shigeru reached the end of the brambles, and hopped out. The fabric around his knees was practically shredded and honestly Shigeru couldn’t care less. Kentarou was nowhere to be seen and he could now enact his original plan. 

Shigeru began to duck between the trees once more, staying aware of his surroundings, and looking for more of those mushrooms. 

Luckily the forest was full of them so it didn’t take long.

A cluster of glowing yellowish orange mushrooms, well, glowing until Shigeru plucked them from the tree stump they were sprouting from. 

Shigeru quickly scouted the area and found a suitable clearing of trees, then promptly smeared the glowing substance onto the bottom of one of his shoes. He then walked out of the clearing and put the glowing substance covered boot back on. Taking deliberate steps to create a clear trail into the clearing. 

After laying his trap, Shigeru hid within an older tree. Old and dying but still useful as a hiding place. 

A small amount of light slipped through the cracks in the canopy of dense leaves above, casting deep shadows into and around the clearing. 

Then he heard it. Footsteps, coming from the direction of his trap. Based on how light and how far apart they were, Shigeru could tell that they belonged to Watari. 

He readied his attack from behind the tree, waiting and listening for the perfect moment to strike. Once Watari crossed into the clearing Shigeru jumped out at him.

What he didn’t anticipate was Kentarou, jumping out from the opposite side of the clearing to ambush him. 

Shigeru strafed to the side within a moment's notice and accidentally backed himself into a tree while trying to dodge an attempt to tag his neck. Watari’s arm landed to the side of Shigeru’s head on the tree. Evaluating all possible modes of escape, Shigeru came to the conclusion that the best way to get out of his current situation was to duck under Watari’s arm and make a run for it. 

Shigeru ducked under Watari’s outstretched arm and slapped his back, knocking him out of the game. Watari’s face went from adrenaline fueled excitement to moderate disappointment. Then Shigeru dashed off into the woods and Kentarou gave chase.

Watari on the other hand was still standing in the clearing, pondering how exactly that encounter ended with him being eliminated from the game and not Shigeru. His plan was practically flawless; pretend to fall into Shigeru’s trap and then have Kentarou ambush him. It hadn’t worked out exactly as he’d wanted it to, but Shigeru’s plan had been foiled and he was now being chased. So in some small capacity it had worked. 

In light of his current predicament, Shigeru was panicking. He really didn’t want to have to jump into another patch of brambles to evade Kentarou. Though he couldn’t really think of any other effective ways to shake Kentarou off his tail. So a direct confrontation was probably his only option. 

He would need to lead Kentarou to a more open area and then leave him there and continue running to get some distance, or eliminate him immediately. 

Shigeru ran and ran, making awkward turns and dashing around trees to put as much distance between himself and Kentarou. All the while Shigeru was constantly looking around for any open space that he could work with. He would take anything at this point. The longer he ran the bigger the advantage Kentarou now had over him would grow. Kentarou has and always has had more stamina than Shigeru, and Shigeru knew this. 

Then he saw it, a small clearing. Not as big as he was hoping for but it would have to do. 

Shigeru dashed into the clearing and stopped for a single moment to catch his breath, knowing that he would only have a single moment before the real battle would begin. 

Kentarou practically flew toward Shigeru, frenetically vying for any opening to tag his opponent’s neck. 

Shigeru had been expecting Kentarou to charge him anyways but he hadn’t been expecting Kentarou to be in this much of a frenzy. Dodging all of the attempts Kentarou made to get to his neck was a difficult endeavor. Especially for someone who was already tired from running. So Shigeru needed a plan, and he needed one now.

Though it now seemed obvious to Shigeru that it was too late for any elaborate plan of his to work. 

Kentarou’s strikes were only getting faster as the encounter stretched on and Shigeru was constantly backing away in a fleeting attempt to dodge.

After backing his way into a tree Shigeru came up with an idea. He could force a momentary stalemate.

If he could get ahold of Kentarou’s hands that is but that would be quite difficult. Seeing as Kentarou was in terms of physicality much stronger than Shigeru. 

But all Shigeru would need was a moment to make his escape and form yet another plan. 

Maybe getting lost in his own head while in the middle of a game of witch hunter was a bad idea. Seeing as Kentarou was charging him while Shigeru still had his back on the tree. 

In an attempt to dodge his opponent Shigeru tripped over the root of a tree and took Kentarou with him to the ground.

As soon as Shigeru hit the ground he immediately tried to scoot back and get as far away from Kentarou as possible. Though this didn’t last long. Kentarou trying to take advantage of their current predicament tried to tag Shigeru’s neck and so Shigeru in response, immediately wrapped his hands around it. Therefore making himself untaggable. 

Shigeru thought this would be enough to call a stalemate and buy himself some time but he was incorrect in the assumption that Kentarou would give in that easily. 

Kentarou in his infinite wisdom was simply prying Shigeru’s hands off of his neck but this presented a whole new set of issues for Shigeru to tap his brain around. Such as being pinned to the ground by your childhood best friend and current crush but he couldn’t focus on that right now. 

Though, based on how Kentarou has positioned himself with his back just out of reach, Shigeru knew that position wasn’t taken without any thought. Due to both of Kentarou’s hands being occupied with holding Shigeru’s down, neither one could tag the other but Kentarou’s decision to place his back out of any danger gave him the implicit advantage in this situation.

Kentarou released one of Shigeru’s hands to attempt to tag his neck, Shigeru, thinking ahead, opted to scoot back and use the space provided to him to loosen Kentarou’s grip on his other hand whilst also placing his neck out of tagging range. In response to this action Kentarou rushed forward and tagged Shigeru’s neck. The radiant feeling of victory only lingered within his gut for a moment, because it was at this moment that Kentarou realized his fatal mistake. At the same moment that Kentarou had tagged Shigeru, Shigeru had also tagged Kentarou. Essentially ending the game in a tie. Of course Shigeru didn’t feel quite as happy as he would’ve if he’d had an actual victory but in his mind, this was good enough. 

“Well, I guess we tied.” At Shigeru’s words Kentarou’s frown only deepened and this made Shigeru feel even better about this turn of events.

“You planned this, didn’t you.” Shigeru’s newly formed smirk only widened. The fact that Kentarou was still essentially pinning him to the ground had slipped his mind entirely, completely dwarfed by Shigeru’s satisfaction at Kentarou’s abject disappointment. 

“I don’t know Ken? Did I?” Shigeru feigned an over the top look of curiosity as he spoke, which only made Kentarou’s frown deepen further than Shigeru thought possible. “Hey, Ken, lighten up a bit. It’s just a game. I’m only teasing. I didn’t plan that, I just took the opening you gave me.” Kentarou sighed and got off of Shigeru, after Kentarou regained his footing he offered a hand to Shigeru. Shigeru ignored this offer and got up on his own, much to the annoyance of Kentarou.

After Shigeru dusted himself off, both boys started making their way back to the clearing. They walked in what was quickly becoming an extremely awkward silence. That is, until Kentarou broke it.

“Hey, is your hand doing ok?” Kentarou’s posture was stiff and rigid as he walked, almost like that of a soldier.

“Yeah, it doesn’t hurt that much, in fact I could probably start practicing once I get home.” 

“Don’t overwork yourself.” Shigeru couldn’t exactly say that he was shocked to hear that Kentarou cared about him, I mean he’d been friends with Kentarou for a long time but it still caught him off guard to hear it directly from Kentarou.

“Don’t worry, I won’t.” Kentarou’s shoulders relaxed after hearing Shigeru’s reassurance.

“Good, I don’t want you to get hurt,” Shigeru could feel his heart beat faster and the blood rush to his face. “princess.” 

Shigeru almost dropkicked Kentarou, almost, key word almost. He held himself back for both his sake and Kentarou’s. Shigeru instead opted to glare at him until they reached the clearing.

“So, who won? I assume Kentarou, seeing as you’re currently glaring a hole into the side of his head.” Shigeru decided to correct him almost immediately.

“No, we tied.” Watari didn’t look shocked this had happened multiple times before. 

“Ok then, what do you guys want to do now? We could sit here and relax, or play another game? Honestly I’m partial to either.” Watari leaned back on the small stump he was seated upon, almost falling off of it in the process. 

“I don’t really know, what do you want to do Ken?” Kentarou glanced up from the moss he had been picking at and thought for a moment. 

“I don’t really know,” It was at that moment Kentarou noticed the dragon jewel hanging from Shigeru’s neck. “actually, I’ve never seen you or Watari’s dragon forms. Have you guys ever actually transformed?” Watari was quick to answer.

“No, the Yahaba family and all of its servants rarely, if ever transform.” 

“Why is that?” Shigeru sighed.

“If you kept up with your political studies then you would know that it is because the Yahaba family values strategy and the power of the human body. Transforming into a powerful beast goes against the core principles that the family upholds.” Kentarou had half a mind to roll his eyes. 

“First of all, political studies are boring, second of all your families principles about transforming are stupid, if they value strategy so much then they should be able to see that turning into a literal dragon gives you the advantage in every combat scenario.” 

“Not necessarily, a human with the right tools can easily decimate a dragon.” Kentarou smirked at Shigeru for a moment.

“Is that so, well then, I guess we’ll have to test that once your hand heals. How about, a week from now, at your manor?” While Shigeru was fired up for a challenge, he was also quite puzzled as to how he was actually going to defeat Kentarou if he was in dragon form. Shigeru didn’t know what his dragon form would even look like, would it be able to fly, how many limbs would it have, what would its body structure even look like? 

“You’re on,” Shigeru paused for a moment. “Wait, what set of rules will we be operating under?” Both boys seemed understandably unprepared to answer.

“I’ve got a solution, how about the first person to pin the other to the ground for three seconds wins?” Shigeru and Kentarou both looked at Watari for a moment before nodding to themselves.

“That sounds good. If we’re having it at my house we might as well have you stay over for dinner. I am sure lady Yahaba would love to have you over Ken.” A small smile slipped through Kentarou’s usually neutral facade. 

“I’ll inform my mother of the invitation as soon as I get home.”

After that the boys messed around in the woods until the sun was beginning to set. After a curt goodbye they all returned to their respective estates. Kentarou with newfound joy about the prospect of visiting the Yahaba manor, and Shigeru filled with dread about asking his mother to allow the prince to come to dinner on such short notice. Watari felt fine, he was relaxed after taking a day off of his usual chores.


End file.
